New Delhi: There is no truth to speculations that terrorists who targeted tourists in Pahalgam on Tuesday were aware of a “large number” of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials holidaying with their families.
Official sources in the security establishment told this newspaper on Wednesday that social media reports claiming a large contingent of IB officials were in the area and their travel plans were leaked to terrorists are false. Only one IB official, Manish Ranjan—a section officer posted in Hyderabad and a native of Uruhi village, Kargahar police station, Rohtas, Bihar—was holidaying with his family and was tragically killed in front of his wife and children. Sources said that the information about his unfortunate death was immediately shared with his family members.
Journalists and social media influencers began amplifying unverified rumors on Tuesday evening, alleging that a group of IB officers was targeted in Pahalgam.
Sources also noted that on 7 March, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for Pakistan, urging citizens to avoid travel due to terrorism risks, particularly near the India-Pakistan border and the Line of Control.
According to officials, this suggests that certain branches of the U.S. State Department were informed by the Pakistani military about the impending terror attack in Kashmir, likely to ensure that no American citizens—who tend to take travel advisories seriously—would travel to the region and risk being killed by the terrorists.
The death of a single U.S. citizen in the terror attack could have triggered significant diplomatic consequences for the Pakistani establishment, given initial reports that the massacre was carried out by four Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, including at least two Pakistani nationals.
Lashkar operates from within Pakistan borders and is a proven non-state- actor that works on the directions of the Pakistani army.