Agency tracks down Anantnag student

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday said it had tracked down the owner of the car used by the suspected Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber in the February 14 attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama. Forty jawans were killed and five injured in the attack.

The owner of the vehicle has since joined the terror outfit, the agency said.

Terming it a “significant breakthrough in the investigation,” an NIA spokesman said they were able to piece together remnants of the vehicle. “With the support of forensic and automobile experts, the NIA has been able to identify the vehicle used for the blast,” he said.

The photo of Sajjad Bhat released by the NIA. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Resold seven times

The NIA said the Maruti Suzuki Eeco vehicle, with chassis number MA3ERLF1S- OO183735 and engine number G12BN164140, was sold to Muhammad Jaleel Ahmed Haqani, a resident of Heaven Colony, Anantnag, in 2011. It subsequently changed hands seven times. The last person to own it was Sajjad Bhat, son of Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, a resident of Bijbehara, Anantnag. Bhat is a student of the Siraj-ul-Uloom in Shopian. “Bhat acquired the vehicle on February 4, 2019.”

Bhat’s house was raided by an NIA team and the police on February 23. “However, Sajjad was not found and has been evading arrest since then. He has reportedly now joined the JeM,” said the NIA.

A photograph of Bhat holding a pistol and a gun has also emerged on social media. The unconfirmed picture names him as Hafiz Sajad Bhat alias Afzal Guru. The picture also claimed that Bhat is part of a JeM fidayeen (suicide) squad. The JeM had launched a 'Afzal Guru Squad' in 2014, which carried out attacks on Army installations in Uri, Pathankot and Nagrota.