The investigation into the November 11 attack on a CRPF post at Akhran near Mir Bazar in south Kashmir's Kulgam district — the earlier development, in which three CRPF personnel were injured — has taken a significant turn, with investigating agencies saying they have zeroed in on the role of Lashkar-e-Taiba in both that attack and the August 1 attack in the Killam area of Kulgam this year, IANS reported on Saturday.

Source: IANS

According to IANS, the Lashkar tried to pass off both attacks in the names of proxy outfits, including The Resistance Front, the Pasdaran-e-Hurriyat Kashmir and the Kashmir Revolutionary Army. An official said there are similarities between the Mir Bazar attack of November 11 and the Killam attack, that both were carried out by Mohammad Lateef Bhat along with his accomplices, and that Bhat is also alleged to be responsible for the Anantnag attack in which Head Constable Ashiq Hussain was killed. These are investigators' allegations, not findings of a court.

Source: IANS

CRPF personnel who were present at the time of the November 11 attack have identified Mohammad Lateef Bhat, a Lashkar operative, as the man who carried out the attack, IANS said. The National Investigation Agency visited the attack site on Thursday and collected evidence that has been sent for forensic examination, and investigators assess that at least three terrorists, including Bhat, were involved. Several overground workers were questioned after the attack and subsequently released, the agency reported.

Source: IANS

The Kashmir Independent Media Service reported on Saturday that more than 500 people have been questioned and 20 detained in the probe, and that agencies are focusing on a Lashkar module led by local operative Abdul Latief — the name used in that report for Bhat, who is also reported as Abdul Latief Bhat — along with two Pakistani terrorists. Investigators believe, according to that report, that a detailed reconnaissance was carried out before the shooting and that overground workers may have helped the module.

Source: Kashmir Independent Media Service

The Tribune reported earlier that the injured personnel were shown Bhat's photograph and identified him as one of the attackers, that the firing took place at about 2.15 pm as the attackers emerged from a cluster of trees near the post, about 75 km from Srinagar and nearly a kilometre from the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, and that Bhat is alleged to have been involved in the July attack on two migrant workers in the Kelam area near Akhran. A senior officer told the newspaper that around 200 overground workers were detained in Kulgam for questioning before being released, and that Bhat is believed by officers to be the only locally active militant left in the Valley — an assessment attributed to the officer, not an established fact.

Source: The Tribune

A large-scale search and manhunt for Bhat and the other suspects is continuing across south Kashmir, officials have said. Bhat has not been arrested in connection with the November 11 attack in the reports so far, and his alleged role remains subject to the investigation and to any charges brought before a court.