Srinagar, May 1 (UNI) Days after National Investigation Agency (NIA) formally took over the April 22 terror attack probe, the agency chief Sadanand Vasant Date on Thursday arrived in Pahalgam, officials said.

NIA teams have been already camping at the terror attack site since last week and intensified the search for evidence.

After arriving in Srinagar, the NIA chief immediately proceeded to Pahalgam, where officers of the counter-terror agency are expected to brief him on the ongoing investigation.

“The NIA DG may also visit Baisaran valley, the site of the carnage,” said an official.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks on civilians in J&K, 25 tourists and a local resident were shot dead on April 22 at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam which shocked the nation. The J&K police blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba’s shadow group The Resistance Front for the attack and released three sketches of militants, including two from Pakistan, who allegedly carried out the attack.

While the attackers are still at large despite a massive combing operation continues in the woods of Pahalgam and surrounding area, the NIA investigators have been examining several witnesses at Baisaran valley.

Officials said the NIA is piecing together the sequence of events and gathering intelligence on the attackers.

Several witnesses have been questioned over the last one week to piece together the sequence of events that led to one of the worst terror attacks in Kashmir.

The NIA teams, aided by forensic and other experts, are also checking the entire area thoroughly for evidence to expose the terror conspiracy

UNI MJR PRS