Houses of two Pahalgam attackers ‘demolished’

The residential houses of two local militants, whom Jammu and Kashmir Police allege were involved in this week’s Pahalgam attack, were destroyed in South Kashmir’s Anantnag and Pulwama districts during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

According to the police, Asif Ahmad Sheikh of Tral in Pulwama and Adil Ahmad Thoker of Guree village in Anantnag, conspired with two Pakistani nationals to carry out Tuesday’s assault in Pahalgam that left 25 tourists and one local dead.

Locals claimed that security forces destroyed both houses during late-night operations. Family members of Sheikh alleged that explosives were planted inside their joint family home before it was blown up. “Our family has a joint house with our relatives. The security forces came and demolished the house,” a family member said on Friday. He added that the family “had nothing to do with Sheikh's activities.”

In neighbouring Anantnag, Thoker’s home was also flattened. His mother claimed to have not seen him for years and said she had no idea of his current whereabouts. She said, “If he has done anything wrong and he is involved, they(security forces) should take action against him,” he said.

Meanwhile, J&K Police have yet to issue an official statement on these demolitions. However, a senior police official informed The Tribune that during searches in Tral, security forces “sensed danger and swiftly retracted for safety but there was a huge blast in which the house got badly damaged. It seems that some suspicious explosive material was present.”