NEW DELHI: As the Indian government faces criticism for not being able to find the suspects who carried out the massacre in Pahalgam last month, there were fears on Saturday that the culprits may have escaped to another country.

A Sri Lankan Airlines fli­ght from Chennai to Colo­mbo was thoroughly sear­ched upon arrival by Colo­mbo police on Saturday after the Chennai control centre alerted them about the possibility that the Pahalgam “suspects are on board”.

The airline said its flight UL122 arrived in Colombo from Chennai at 11:59am and was subjected to a “comprehensive security search” upon arrival.

“This was carried out in coordination with local authorities following an alert from the Chennai Area Control Centre regarding a suspect wanted in India who was believed to be on board.”

Speaking some 10 days after the massacre in India-held Kashmir, a Congress politician expressed doubt if the Modi government was competent to catch the attac­kers. His comments were turned into a criticism of the army, forcing him to retract.

Dismissal of ministers, NSA

The glaring security and intelligence failure have drawn criticism from opposition and defence analysts as demands have been raised for the resignation of home and defence ministers.

Some analysts have called for the dismissal of the national security adviser (NSA).

Reports are coming in of how the attackers trapped the tourists by mingling with them and shepherding them towards a place on the meadow from where they could not escape.

The Hindu quoted a senior government official as saying on Saturday that two attackers who had earlier mingled with the tourists herded the startled crowd towards the two shooters, who then segregated tourists based on religion and killed them.

It said the attack happened at two to three points within 50 metres of the entry-cum-exit point at Baisaran and so far, it seemed “four men were involved”. The meadow is fenced from all sides.

The official said two of them deliberately herded people towards the shooters, knowing that the crowd would scatter after hearing gunshots.

The official was further quoted by The Hindu report as disclosing that they received specific intelligence input on an attack at “hotels” in Srinagar and Dachigam, some 22km from Srinagar, on April 19, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the Katra-Sangaldan stretch of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link.

However, the PM’s visit was cancelled due to inclement weather after which the tourists were targeted, the official believed.

“A lot of chatter was picked up by security agencies for a month before the attack on April 22. This is why senior police officers were stationed in Srinagar four to five days prior to the attack and they were also trying to build on the information,” said the official.

However, another official said the input was generic, suggesting the target could be “security personnel deployed at hotels”.

90-minute delay

While he claimed the delay of more than 90 minutes for the Army to reach the shooting site was a tactical move to avoid collateral damage to the security forces, the other official according to The Hindu cited the long wait for mobilisation of adequate personnel behind the delay.

By the time reinforcements reached Baisaran, the attackers had already fled into the forests.

Two days after the attack, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah while talking to MPs at an all-party meeting blamed nearby hotels for sending tourists to Baisaran “without informing the police”.

He admitted that there was no security presence at the place on the day of the shooting, though the tourist site was usually provided with security well before the start of Amarnath Yatra in July.

However, the official quoted by The Hindu in its report said Baisaran meadow is open throughout the year, except during the Amarnath pilgrimage.

The tender to maintain the tourist site was awarded to a Bijbehara resident in August 2024 and there is no government order suggesting that it is a regulated area under security watch.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2025