Lunch Under Tree, Kill Zone To Prevent Escape & GoPro To Record Killings: Chilling Timeline Of Pahalgam Terror Attack Unravelled

Last Updated:May 22, 2026, 14:15 IST

Pahalgam terror attack: Upon exiting the park, the terrorists fired multiple rounds into air in celebration, displaying an lack of remorse, according to NIA chargesheet

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a comprehensive 1,597-page chargesheet detailing the exact, chilling timeline of the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baisaran Valley, where 26 civilians (25 tourists and one local pony operator) were brutally massacred.

The three terrorists had lunch under a tree shortly before they killed 26 people, according to the charge sheet details published by NDTV.

THE TIMELINE

The charge sheet gives the detailed sequence of events in the cross-border conspiracy orchestrated by Pakistan-backed outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and The Resistance Front (TRF).

April 21, 5 PM: Took shelter

The three armed Pakistani terrorists—identified as Faisal Jatt alias Suleiman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran, and Hamza Afghani—arrived at the hut (dhok) of a local resident, Parvaiz Ahmad, demanding water and shelter after traveling a long distance.

“My mama (maternal uncle) Bashir Ahmad Jothar walked in and told us to remain silent. He went outside and returned within a few moments, followed by three men carrying guns. The armed men sat down inside the dhok. They told me to give them water as they were very tired and thirsty, saying they had travelled a long distance," Parvaiz, who operated a pony in the Baisaran Valley, told investigators, as per the NIA chargesheet cited by NDTV. Parvaiz and Jothar were arrested on June 22 for harbouring the three terrorists.

April 22: Lunch under a tree

Before entering the park in Baisaran Valley, the attackers sat under a tree in the meadow to eat lunch. They pulled blankets over themselves from their bags to blend in and camouflage their weapons.

Two of the terrorists walked over to a nearby rivulet to monitor tourist activity and map out coordinates inside the Baisaran Valley meadow.

After returning to drop off their main bags, the trio made their approach underneath the park’s fencing. One terrorist wore a helmet-mounted GoPro action camera to record the killings.

Two terrorists advanced toward the main entrance gate near the public utilities, while the third positioned himself by the end of the tourist zipline. They deliberately structured these positions to create an enclosed “kill zone" in the central meadow to prevent escape.

2:23 PM: The first shot

The first bullet was fired from an M-4 carbine rifle. Within seconds, the other two terrorists opened fire with AK-47 rifles near local food stalls (dhabas) and the sloping hill. The terrorists herded the panicked crowd and systematically executed individuals who could not recite the Islamic Kalma. Local pony operator Syed Adil Hussain Shah was shot dead while bravely attempting to wrestle a gun away to protect tourists.

While fleeing into the woods, they shot three civilians hiding behind trees at point-blank range. Upon exiting the park perimeter, they fired multiple rounds into the air in celebration, displaying an absolute lack of remorse, according to the charge sheet.

THE AFTERMATH

According to the official NIA Report details published via NDTV, all three active Pakistani gunmen were later tracked down and neutralized by Indian security forces during ‘Operation Mahadev’ on July 29 in the outskirts of Srinagar.

The subsequent military retaliation against cross-border terror launchpads was codified as India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’.

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