Investigators probing last year’s deadly terror attack in Pahalgam have traced one of the mobile phones used by the attackers to a shipment imported into Pakistan in 2021, opening up a fresh line of inquiry into the network behind the assault that claimed 26 civilian lives.
According to an Indian Express report citing officials familiar with the investigation, the handset was part of a consignment imported by Karachi-based Tech Sirat Pvt Ltd and financed through Faysal Bank. The shipment was reportedly delivered in Pakistan on January 1, 2021.
Investigators from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Jammu and Kashmir Police found that both phones linked to the attack had remained inactive for years before being switched on shortly before the April 22 assault in Pahalgam’s Baisaran Valley.
The attack was carried out by three terrorists, Faisal Jatt alias Suleiman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani, who later died in an encounter with security forces at Mulnar Mahadev in the Dachigam forest area of Jammu and Kashmir on July 28, 2025.
Shipping documents reviewed during the investigation reportedly showed Tech Sirat Pvt Ltd as the importer, while logistics details listed Faysal Bank as the financing institution. The delivery address was recorded as “St/02, Faysal House, Main Branch, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi, Pakistan”.
“The consignment must have been received by Tech Sirat, but documents show delivery to the bank since it has financed it. The phone used by the Pahalgam attackers appears to have been smuggled out of this consignment and found its way to the LeT. Notably, since the import in 2021, the phone was never switched on until the Pahalgam attack. It appears that it was whisked away from the consignment for precisely the purpose of being handed over to a terrorist,” an official told The Indian Express.
Investigators have not found evidence directly linking Faysal Bank to the Pahalgam attack. However, the bank has previously featured in terror-related investigations. According to a 2007 report by The New York Times, lawsuits filed in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks alleged that accounts linked to banned organisations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Kuwait-based Lajnat-al-Dawa, were maintained at the bank.
Officials also revealed that a second phone recovered from the attackers had been imported in 2023 by Lahore-based Air Link Communications Ltd. Like the first device, it reportedly remained unused until preparations for the attack began.
Although investigators were unable to retrieve communication records because the terrorists relied on long-range radio systems rather than conventional mobile networks, forensic examination of the phones yielded crucial digital evidence.
Among the recovered data were photographs, location references, and maps linked to the attack planning. Investigators also found an image showing a tent pitched near Baisaran Meadows on March 30, 2025, suggesting the attackers had conducted detailed reconnaissance and logistical preparations weeks before carrying out the massacre.
The findings are expected to strengthen the ongoing investigation into the planning, support networks, and logistical chain behind one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.
