The driver of the car, Pulwama bomber held

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad overground worker who drove the Maruti Eeco vehicle which is used for the attack, at Pulwama, knows as Pulwama terror attack which took place on 14th February 2019. Shakir Bashir Magrey is accused that he not only fitted the IED in Maruti Ecco vehicle used for the attack but also drove it with the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar, in the front seat, till 500 meters short of the attack site. 

Magrey is 22 years old, a resident of Kakapora in Pulwama and the owner of the furniture shop is the first living accused who got arrested in the case. While Adil has died during the suicide attack at Pulwama and the other five identified accused were killed in separate operations by the security forces between March 11, 2019, and January 25, 2020. 

The Pulwama attack left 40 CRPF personnel martyred, was the turning point in India’s counter-terror journey because it led to the first-ever cross-border airstrikes by the Indian fighter jets on the Jaish-e-Mohammad facilities deep inside Pakistan. 

Magrey is the important catch that will help to piece together the events leading up to the suicide strike. Magrey drove the car because Adil was a shaky drier. It was only 500 meters before when Magrey got off and Adil then drove himself to the attack spot. Magrey was a key link in the Pulwama attack conspiracy. He also harbored Adil Dar and the other accused Pakistani Terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq in his own house from late 2018 till the attack in February 2019. He also helped them to prepare IED, which was used in the Pulwama attack. He used to brief Umar and Adil about the movements of the CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in January 2019. 

Magrey also revealed during the interrogation that the materials have been brought from the Amazon e-retail site. Magrey and Adil have been introduced to each other in mid-2018 by Umar Farooq and then he became a full-time OGW of JeM.  He used to collect and deliver arms, ammunition, cash, and explosive material to JeM terrorists, who were involved in the Pulwama attack. He was also involved in modifying the Maruti Eeco car and fitting the IED in it in early February 2019. 

Magrery was produced before the NIA special court in Jammu on Friday and remanded to the custody of 15 days.