two satellite phone signals sent 17 days apart, assistance from local nomads, and a mountain peak called Mahadev. This is the backdrop of the operation that took down three terrorists in Pahalgam.

It all started with the detection of a signal from a communication device used by the Pahalgam attackers on Saturday — marking the second time in just 17 days that this happened. This breakthrough led the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police to their location on Mulnar Peak, close to Lidwas Meadow of Mahadev Peak, a spot that holds strategic importance in the Dachigam forests on the outskirts of Srinagar. Among the various items seized from the three slain terrorists were arms, ammunition, and explosives. Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that these were the same individuals responsible for the tragic killing of 26 civilians on April 22. He identified them as Suleiman, Afghan, and Jibran, stating in Lok Sabha, “These three terrorists were the ones who took the lives of our citizens in Baisaran (Pahalgam), and all three have been eliminated.” According to reliable sources, the men had also used the device back on July 11 in the Baisaran area. Since then, multiple teams from the Army and police had been on their trail, even conducting searches at night, which forced the suspects to keep shifting their locations. On Saturday, when security forces and police picked up the satellite phone signal from the Mahadev Peak area, they quickly initiated what security agencies would later refer to as Op Mahadev. The signal was traced to Dachigam, which is about 30 km away from the nearest human settlement at Chak Dara. Although Baisaran in Anantnag district, where the April 22 attack occurred, and the Dachigam forests in Srinagar are nearly 120 km apart by road, the distance through the forest is only about 40-50 km, with the Aru Wildlife Sanctuary lying in between. Sources indicated that once the presence of the three men was confirmed in the area, heat signature drones were deployed to pinpoint their exact location. In a carefully orchestrated and rapid operation, security forces and police, acting on information from local nomads familiar with the region, cordoned off the area and engaged the terrorists.