The Sunday Mail, New Delhi
In a breakthrough months after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested Mohammad Kataria, who allegedly provided logistical support to the attackers responsible for killing 26 civilians in April. Security sources confirmed the arrest on Wednesday evening, marking the first major success since Operation Mahadev, the military operation that neutralised the assailants behind the brutal massacre.
Kataria was apprehended following a forensic investigation into weapons recovered during Op Mahadev, which took place in July. Analysis of the firearms and communication equipment linked the weapons directly to the Pahalgam killings. Authorities believe Kataria assisted the attackers with logistics, including transportation and safehouse access. He will be presented before a court shortly and is expected to be sent to judicial custody.
The Pahalgam attack was the deadliest in the region in nearly two decades. On April 22, gunmen affiliated with a faction of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba targeted civilians in Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist destination, reportedly questioning victims about their religion before executing them. The brutality of the attack caused nationwide outrage and escalated diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan.
Following the massacre, intelligence agencies tracked communications from China-origin encrypted devices, leading to actionable information about the terrorists’ movements. This triggered Operation Mahadev, launched after weeks of surveillance beginning in May.
On July 28, Indian forces launched the strike. A drone was deployed at 8 a.m. to visually confirm the location of the suspects. By 9:30 a.m., elite Rashtriya Rifles and Special Forces were on the ground. After a secondary confirmation, the operation began in full at 11 a.m., and within two hours, all three terrorists were eliminated. Among the dead was Suleiman Shah, alias Hashim Musa, a former commando in Pakistan’s Special Service Group, believed to be the mastermind behind the Pahalgam carnage.
According to intelligence reports, Shah infiltrated India in late 2023. He was also implicated in two other attacks — one in Baramulla that killed four security personnel, and another in 2024 in which seven civilians died. Visuals from Op Mahadev showed AK-47s and M9 rifles among the weapons recovered. Forensic tests conducted at a lab in Chandigarh confirmed these firearms were used in the Pahalgam attack. Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament that spent cartridges matched those recovered from the massacre site.
The aftermath of the attack prompted swift retaliation from India. The government suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, a key irrigation accord with Pakistan, before launching Operation Sindoor, a military strike targeting nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Over 100 hours of hostilities followed, including missile and drone exchanges, before Islamabad sought a ceasefire after suffering heavy strategic losses. In its aftermath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a shift to a “more forceful doctrine” in responding to terror attacks, signalling a harder stance on cross-border militancy.
