Pahalgam update: Ganderbal police detain suspect after UP tourist’s shocking claim links him to terror attack
PTC Web Desk: In a chilling turn of events following the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 persons dead, a tourist's viral video has led the authorities to a suspect in Kashmir's Ganderbal district. The Ganderbal district police on Friday detained Aiyaz Ahmad Jungal, a resident of Gohipora Raizan, after a tourist woman from Uttar Pradesh alleged that a man had questioned her about her religion—and matched the description of one of the suspected attackers.
Jungal, who works as a pony service provider at Thajwas Glacier in Sonamarg, is currently undergoing sustained interrogation, and the authorities are investigating his possible connection to the Pahalgam Terror Attack. Officials confirmed that legal proceedings are underway.
Tourist's alarming encounter sparks probe
The key breakthrough came after Ekta Tiwari, a tourist from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, posted a video on social media claiming she had met the suspected terrorists while on a mule ride in Pahalgam on April 20, just two days before the massacre.
She showed a photo of a man in a maroon jacket and pyjamas stored on her phone, stating he questioned her about her religion and tried to engage her in suspicious conversations. She alleged that during the brief encounter, he also offered to bypass official registration for the Amarnath Yatra, claiming that his "contact" would receive her directly.
Her statements became even more alarming when she claimed the man received a phone call and she overheard him saying: “Plan A brake fail, Plan B 35 guns sent and kept on the grass in the valley.”
When he noticed her listening, he allegedly switched languages, making the rest of the conversation difficult to understand. She told reporters the man claimed to be a Quran teacher and had been living in the area for around seven years.
Fear among tourists, lapses in security
Ekta Tiwari's husband, Prashant Gautam, confirmed their group had been on a full Kashmir tour, which included 20 persons. The group had visited Vaishno Devi before heading to Pahalgam, where the disturbing encounter took place.
Ekta Tiwari further said the man asked her whether she preferred Hinduism or Islam, how many friends she had from each religion, and if she had read the Quran. When she mentioned she hadn’t read it because she didn’t know Urdu, he responded that Hindi translations were available. She confessed that she began to feel visibly uncomfortable and scared, especially as the man’s tone turned probing and persistent. However, she said there was no visible police presence or tourist help booth nearby to report the incident at that time.
Group confirms suspect match with sketches
Ekta claims that once the government released sketches of the Pahalgam attackers, she immediately recognised two of the men and shared screenshots from a WhatsApp group where others in her tour group confirmed the same. She stated that the men disappeared while descending from the Baisaran valley after the interaction.
When asked about the man's accent, she said he sounded like a Pakistani but was posing as a local Kashmiri. Her final statement was resolute: "I am 200% sure it was him. He asked about religion, talked about guns, and matched the sketch exactly. I can't ignore what I saw."
The police are now probing whether the detained suspect has any direct links to The Resistance Front (TRF), the Pakistan-backed terror group that claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack, where most victims were tourists. In parallel, search and combing operations continue in Pulwama and Baramulla, where police recently raided a residence in Pattan linked to the banned Jammu and Kashmir National Front (JKNF), recovering incriminating material.
- With inputs from agencies
