SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police have detained seventy-five individuals under the Public Safety Act (PSA) following the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran Valley that left twenty-five tourists and one local dead. The crackdown comes amid an expansive investigation, now being led by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), with raids and search operations continuing across Kashmir and parts of Jammu.
The attack, which occurred on April 22 in a meadow area approximately 90 kilometres from Srinagar, has triggered one of the largest security responses in recent years. Since then, authorities have questioned more than two thousand people and carried out extensive searches in multiple districts, Delhi-based newspaper The Economic Times reported.
According to the top business newspaper, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) V K Birdi confirmed that seventy-five people have been booked under the PSA, a preventive detention law that allows incarceration without formal charges for up to two years. “Seventy-five people [have been] slapped with PSA,” Birdi was quoted as saying.
Security agencies are believed to have identified key suspects linked to the attack. “We have raided several places and busted overground worker networks,” another senior police official was quoted by the newspaper, referring to individuals who provide logistical and operational support to militants.
With the NIA now formally in charge of the probe, search operations have expanded into the Chenab and Pir Panjal regions of Jammu as well, pointing to a wider militant footprint beyond the immediate site of the attack.
The Pahalgam incident has raised fresh concerns over the safety of tourist destinations in the Valley just as the summer season begins. Security around major resorts and pilgrimage routes has been significantly intensified in response.
