One Year After Pahalgam: Inside India’s Expanding Probe into Cross-Border Terro

One year after the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam massacre that claimed 26 lives, the investigation into the attack has evolved from a localised manhunt into a far-reaching case implicating cross-border, state-sponsored terrorism. Led by the National Investigation Agency, the probe has reconstructed the sequence of events at Baisaran meadow with forensic precision, culminating in a comprehensive 1,597-page chargesheet that links the conspiracy to the upper ranks of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliate, The Resistance Front.

As the first anniversary is observed, attention remains focused on the investigative and tactical breakthroughs that enabled security forces to dismantle the terror module responsible for the attack. A critical turning point came through what officials described as “meticulous scientific probing,” combined with the interrogation of two local overground workers—Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothar—who were arrested in June 2025. During questioning, the duo admitted to sheltering three Pakistani militants at a seasonal hut in Hill Park in the days leading up to the attack.

According to the chargesheet filed in December 2025, the operation was orchestrated by Hafiz Saeed and TRF commander Habibullah Malik. Digital evidence and intercepted communications revealed that handlers supplied advanced weaponry, including M4 carbines, along with mounted cameras intended to record the killings. Investigators concluded that the attack was designed to incite communal unrest and undermine the rapidly growing tourism sector in the Union Territory.

The investigation identified three principal assailants—Faisal Jatt (alias Suleman Shah), Habeeb Tahir (alias Jibran), and Hamza Afghani. Eyewitness testimony and forensic findings described a chilling modus operandi: tourists were segregated on religious lines, with Hindu men specifically targeted after being forced to recite the Kalima to establish their identity.

The perpetrators were neutralised within months. In a coordinated counter-terror operation codenamed Operation Mahadev, security forces tracked and eliminated all three attackers in the Dachigam forests near Srinagar on July 29, 2025. The recovery of their weapons and mounted cameras provided crucial forensic confirmation, directly linking them to footage of the Baisaran killings and conclusively establishing their role in the massacre.

The broader geopolitical repercussions were swift and significant. The attack triggered one of the most serious escalations in India–Pakistan relations in recent years. In May 2025, India launched Operation Sindoor, conducting calibrated missile and air strikes on nine identified terrorist infrastructure sites across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and parts of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

This military response was accompanied by a landmark policy shift, as India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance—signalling a departure from the longstanding practice of insulating water-sharing arrangements from security considerations. Concurrently, India’s diplomatic outreach, backed by what officials termed “irrefutable evidence” of TRF’s involvement, led to the organisation’s designation as a terrorist entity by the United States on July 17, 2025.

As of April 2026, the investigation remains active. While the direct perpetrators have been eliminated, the NIA continues to pursue the wider ecosystem that sustains such operations, with particular emphasis on financial networks and cross-border infiltration mechanisms. Proceedings are ongoing before a special NIA court in Jammu, as authorities seek to hold key conspirators—especially Sajid Jatt and other handlers operating from across the border—accountable through international legal channels.

One year on, the Pahalgam investigation stands as a defining example of India’s resolve to confront and dismantle organised terror networks, with officials asserting a continued commitment to ensuring that the tragedy at Baisaran is neither forgotten nor repeated.