How Terrorists Prepared For Reasi Attack, Local Who Helped Them For Rs 5,000 Reveals To Security Agencies

Hakam Din was arrested on 20 June, after the Reasi attack on 9 June and is said to have got Rs 5,000 from the three terrorists who orchestrated the attack.

Din was earlier a porter at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine but left the job three years ago. He was working as a cattle trader when terrorists contacted him on 1 June.

"They knocked on his door and asked him to prepare food for three people. One of them was referring to another as ‘Manzoor bhai’. They asked him to bring food to their shelter in a forest," Indian Express reported.

"On 7 June, the three militants again visited Din's house and asked him to accompany them for a recce to Pouni, where the attack took place. They were there for around three and a half hours," the source told IE.

"They sat in different spots to pick a strategic location for the attack, and to identify the slope of the road where the vehicle would slow down. They marked these locations before leaving," he added.

They had also inquired Din about the movement of tourist buses. They discussed the attack plan at Din's house while having tea and then left with food.

The terrorists then waited for a specific bus carrying pilgrims on the day of the attack. They first targeted the driver and did not stop firing even after he lost control of the bus, which plummeted into a gorge.

After the attack, Din was asked to escape. He has now helped investigation agencies in making sketches of the terrorists. Meanwhile, terrorists are suspected to be hiding in dense forests.