Jammu and Kashmir: Pulwama terror attack happened despite two successive actionable intelligence inputs

A year-long investigation by ‘Frontline’ reveals that between January 2 and February 13, 2019, a series of intelligence inputs were shared with various authorities responsible for maintaining internal security, all pointing to an impending fidayeen strike as part of the Jaish-e-Mohammad’s “Qisas mission”. At least two inputs carried details of the terror module led by Mudasir Ahmed Khan, which eventually carried out the Pulwama attack on February 14, 2019.

The fidayeen attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Lethpora, Pulwama, on February 14, 2019, which claimed the lives of 40 personnel, raised vexed questions at the time, with sceptics suspecting it to be an outcome of intelligence failure and demanding to know how a massive quantity of explosives could be obtained, hoarded and transported by terrorists to execute the attack, given the intricate tiers of surveillance in place in the Kashmir valley.

In the aftermath of the attack, even as news reports indicated that there were at least two inputs in the week leading to February 14, which warned of a strike by an improvised explosive device (IED) on security personnel or establishments, the government ruled out intelligence failure.