Pahalgam attack: NIA chargesheet shows plan was active a week before, terrorists used trekking app to log coordinates

📌 Summary:

• NIA chargesheet in the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam (Baisaran valley) attack that killed 25 tourists and a local ponywallah shows the plot was active from around April 15, 2025
• Phone of a terrorist killed in 'Operation Mahadev' (Srinagar, July 28, 2025) had two map screenshots time-stamped April 15-16 plotting locations near Baisaran
• Coordinates were received from Pakistan-based handler Sajid Jatt via a GPS-based hiking/mountain-expedition app misused to share and track locations
• Three terrorists — Faisal Jatt alias Suleman, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, Hamza Afghani — killed July 28 in Dachigam forests
• Local resident Parvaiz Ahmad and uncle Bashir Ahmad Jothad accused of providing food and shelter a day before the attack
• Sajid (a Pakistani national) named as commander of proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy The Resistance Front (TRF)

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 Internal Security — cross-border terrorism, Pakistan-sponsored proxies (LeT/TRF), use of dual-use civilian technology (GPS apps) by terror modules, and the investigative role of NIA

📝 Prelims Facts:

• NIA = National Investigation Agency; investigates terror cases
• The Resistance Front (TRF) is a proxy/offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba
• Baisaran valley is near Pahalgam, Anantnag district, J&K