India’s Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested a man on Wednesday for allegedly helping the gunmen who killed 26 people in the April 22 attack near Pahalgam. The suspect, identified as Mohammad Kataria, was taken into custody after forensic work linked him to weapons and kit recovered in July during “Operation Mahadev,” officials said, according to NDTV.
Police described the detainee as part of the support network behind the assault at Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist meadow above Pahalgam. Earlier briefings said he acted as a logistical aide to Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives, an allegation authorities are still investigating, Times of India reported.
“Operation Mahadev” — a joint push by the Army, Central Reserve Police Force, and J\&K Police — tracked and killed all three suspects named in the massacre: Suleman (also known as Faizal Jatt), Hamza Afghani, and Zibran, the government has said. The operation’s results were cited by the Press Information Bureau on July 29.
Separately on Wednesday, the Indian Army said it destroyed a terrorist hideout in the Brinal forest of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The site was blasted and gas cylinders and other materials were seized; searches were continuing in the area, according to video and updates carried by ANI.
The National Investigation Agency is running a parallel probe into financing and facilitation tied to the Pahalgam case. In June, two men from the Pahalgam area were arrested for allegedly sheltering the attackers. The agency has also examined a wider network, including the phone of a Srinagar-based suspect, and says it is analyzing more than 450 contacts linked to dozens of past cases, Hindustan Times reported.
Investigators have traced a foreign funding trail and are probing whether money moved from abroad to local operatives. According to India Today, officials said that communications showed that a man named Yasir Hayat was in touch with a handler in Malaysia named Sajad Ahmad Mir and that ₹2 lakh was sent to Shafat Wani. In total, Wani is thought to have received about ₹9 lakh for illegal activities.
Authorities say the investigation continues, with more arrests possible as money and forensic leads are pursued. The April 22 attack — one of the most lethal against non-combatants in years — resulted in 26 deaths, most of them tourists, and increased security throughout the Pahalgam area, Times of India said.
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