Three of the terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam massacre have been eliminated by security forces in a joint operation by the Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police near Srinagar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The terrorists were killed Monday in an operation dubbed Mahadev but officials had held back in identifying them conclusively as the Pahalgam attackers.
Participating in a special discussion on Operation Sindoor, Shah also attacked the opposition party for giving a "clean chit" to Pakistan for the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Had the Congress opposed Partition, the problem of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir would never have occurred, he said.
Shah was referring to former Home Minister P Chidambaram's recent remarks that those behind the Pahalgam massacre could be "homegrown terrorists".
Giving details of 'Operation Mahadev', Shah said the slain terrorists have been identified as Suleman alias Faizal, Afghani and Jibran.
"While Suleman was an A-category commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Afghani was also an A-category LeT terrorist. Jibran too was a notorious and wanted terrorist. All these three involved in the killing of our citizens at Baisaran valley in Pahalgam have now been eliminated," he said.
Shah said the identity of the terrorists was confirmed by those detained for sheltering and providing them with food ahead of the Pahalgam attack.
The arms -- one M-9 and two AK-47 rifles -- recovered from the terrorists were flown to Chandigarh Monday night in a special flight for examination at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.
The empty cartridges found at Pahalgam and those after test firing by the guns recovered from the terrorists were matched by the forensic lab, Shah said. The ballistic report is with him, he added.
"Six forensic experts have confirmed to me on a video call this morning that these are the same bullets used in the Pahalgam attack," he said.
Shah said security forces had recovered Pakistani voter IDs of two of the killed terrorists as well as chocolates made in Pakistan and the weapons.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through Operation Sindoor, ensured that the masterminds of the Pahalgam attack were eliminated. And yesterday, in Operation Mahadev, those terrorists who were involved were eliminated," he said.
Describing the Pahalgam attack as barbaric, Shah said innocent civilians were brutally killed in front of their families after being asked about their religion.
Expressing condolences for those killed in Pahalgam and during Pakistani shelling on civilians, he said civilians were martyred and some gurdwaras and temples damaged due to Pakistani firing.
Terrorists are now being sent from Pakistan to Jammu and Kashmir as there are no local terrorists in Kashmir, Shah said.
He said after the elimination of the three terrorists, he thought this news would spark a wave of joy across treasury and opposition benches. "But opposition faces are gloomy," he said.
Describing Pakistan as the root of all terrorism, he said Pakistan was a mistake committed by the Congress. "Had they rejected Partition, there would have been no Pakistan," he added.
Referring to Chidambaram's statement, Shah said it was extremely unfortunate that a former home minister is saying what evidence was there.
"What are they trying to prove? Whom are they trying to protect? They say that the terrorists were not Pakistani, and in this way, a former home minister from Congress is trying to give Pakistan a clean chit. By saying this, Chidambaram wants to suggest that if the terrorists were not Pakistani, then why did we attack Pakistan," he said, adding this was a clear conspiracy to protect Pakistan.
Shah said under Operation Sindoor, Indian forces attacked targets 100 km inside Pakistan and India could exposed state sponsored terrorism in Pakistan.
He said India's armed forces crippled Pakistan's defence systems in such a manner that the neighbouring country had no choice but to request India to halt attacks.
"In 1948, Indian armed forces were in a decisive position to take back Pakistan occupied Kashmir but then PM Jawaharlal Nehru declared unilateral ceasefire," he said.
In 1971, Shah said, 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered and India had 15,000 sq km Pakistan territory under control, but still PoK was not taken back.
During 1962 war with China, then PM Nehru bade goodbye to Assam in a speech on Akashvani, he said.
Shah said between 2005 and 2011, there were 27 terrorists attacks but what did the Congress government do, they just sent dossiers to Pakistan.
"Terrorists now sent from Pakistan to J-K as no local terrorists in Kashmir... Scrapping of Article 370 has destroyed terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
"From 2004 to 2014, there were 7,217 terrorist incidents in Kashmir. From 2014 to 2025, these reduced by 70 per cent to 2,150. From 2004 to 2014, 1,770 civilians died. This reduced by 80 per cent to 357 from 2014 to 2025. From 2004 to 2014, the number of deaths of security forces was 1,060. This decreased to 542 in our time. And there was a 123 per cent increase in the deaths of terrorists," he said.
Attacking Congress, Shah said underworld don Dawood Ibrahim fled in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi's government was in power, terrorists Syed Salahuddin, Tiger Memon, Anis Ibrahim Kaskar fled in 1993 when Congress government was in power and when Riyaz Bhatkal fled in 2007 and Iqbal Bhatkal fled in 2010, then again it was a Congress government.
"The answer they demanded from me has already been given by our security forces. Now let Rahul Gandhi answer why these people fled," he said.
Shah said Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was scrapped by the Manmohan Singh government in its first cabinet meeting after coming to power in 2004.
"The country deserves to know who benefitted from Congress repealing POTA? Those opposed to POTA will never appreciate Narendra Modi's anti-terror policies," he said.
