The 'Incredible Strokes of Luck' Behind How the Pulwama Terrorists Were Identified

In a 30-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Pandita confirms that two strokes of sheer good luck were responsible for India’s intelligence agencies identifying the terrorists, their network and how they operated. The first element of luck was when Rakesh Balwal, the Head of the National Investigation Agency in Kashmir, accidentally stumbled upon the evidence that confirmed Adil Dar was the terrorist behind the Pulwama attack. It happened 6 days after the attack when he was wandering in the general area where the attack happened. His eye fell upon something shining in the slush around him. It turned out to be the key of the Eeco car the terrorists used and a piece of bone from the terrorist’s thumb which, on DNA testing, identified Adil Dar. It was sheer good luck that in the 6 days since the attack, wind, rain, sleet and snow had not washed away the evidence. Had that happened identifying Adil Dar as the terrorist and the Eeco car would have been impossible. Like our work? Click here to support The Wire: https://thewire.in/support The founding premise of The Wire is this: if good journalism is to survive and thrive, it can only do so by being both editorially and financially independent. This means relying principally on contributions from readers and concerned citizens who have no interest other than to sustain a space for quality journalism. As a publication, The Wire will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values. We publish in four different languages! For English, visit www.thewire.in for Hindi: http://thewirehindi.com/ for Urdu: http://thewireurdu.com for Marathi: https://marathi.thewire.in If you are a young writer or a creator, you can submit articles, essays, photos, poetry – anything that’s straight out of your imagination – to LiveWire, The Wire’s portal for the young, by the young. https://livewire.thewire.in/ You can also follow The Wire’s social media platforms and engage with us. Facebook   / thewire     / thewirehindi     / thewireurdu     / thewiremarathi   Twitter   / thewire_in     / thewirehindi     / thewireurdu     / thewiremarathi     / livewire   Instagram   / thewirein     / livewirein   Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button to never miss a video from The Wire!