Pulwama Probe Update: Car Laden With Explosives Made In 2010-11, Repainted; Ownership Still Uncertain

Agencies investigating the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir are known to have closely tracked the owner of the car employed in targeting the CRPF convoy, and some key leads are emerging, reports Indian Express.

According to the report, an analysis done by a team of Maruti officials confirmed that the vehicle used was a Maruti Eeco. NIA investigators have picked up several samples of the remains from the attack spot.

The car was reportedly manufactured in 2010-11 and may have been re-painted in the years gone by.

A team of NIA officers recently revisited the attack spot and picked up more evidence.

“The blast was so huge that its debris had been displaced across a 150-200-metre radius and had landed in residential areas around the attack spot too,” an officer was quoted as saying by IE.

The Indian Express had reported on 19 February that investigators found shards of a jerrycan and a metal piece with a number on it. The jerrycan, which was of 20-25 litres capacity, was reported to have been used to install around 30 kg of RDX used in the Improvised Explosive Device (IED). An eyewitness reportedly said the car was red in colour.

Parts of a shock absorber suspected to be that of the car have also been found. These are being examined to ascertain the exact manufacturing and sale date of the vehicle, sources said.

Analysis of several car theft FIRs in Kashmir haven’t thrown up any clues, however. Investigators suspect the car could have been either stolen from outside the state or not stolen at all.

Jammu and Kashmir police and NIA are already interrogating various known over-ground workers (OGWs) of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which claimed responsibility for the attack.