Srinagar: Union home minister Amit Shah said today (July 29) that the three suspected militants who were gunned down a day earlier on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir were involved in the Pahalgam terrorist attack.The army’s Chinar Corps appears to have paved the way for Shah to make the first official statement in the Lok Sabha on the Srinagar encounter by calling off a press conference which was scheduled to be held on the evening of July 28.The encounter in Srinagar broke out during the beginning of the monsoon season of the parliament in which the opposition led by the Congress has been cornering the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party on the alleged security lapses that led to the carnage in Pahalgam.Shah said that three militants were killed in the encounter codenamed ‘Operation Mahadev’ by the army. The three have been identified as Suleman alias Faizal Jutt, a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba commander, Afghan and Jibran.He said that all the three were ‘A’ category militants and they were killed in a joint operation by commandos of the army’s 4 Para unit, central paramilitary forces and Jammu and Kashmir police.“These three terrorists killed our citizens in Baisaran valley and all the three have been eliminated,” Shah said.DatesWhile speaking in the Lok Sabha, Shah appeared to confuse the date of the carnage in Pahalgam which took place on April 22, saying that the investigation of the attack started on the night of May 22, even as a member on the adjacent bench seemed to be pointing out that the attack took place on April 22.“May 22, 2025,” Shah repeated, adding that a security meeting was held in J&K on the night of May 22 after the attack which prompted uproar from the opposition benches following which Shah corrected himself.Shah then went on to say that the intelligence bureau received human intelligence input on May 22 about the presence of militants in Dachigam area of Srinagar following which an “ultra-signal capturing instrument” was deployed to trace them and the encounter broke out on the morning of July 28.Amid ‘Bharat Mata ki jai‘ and other slogans from the saffron party members, Shah said that the probe by the National Investigations Agency (NIA) into the Pahalgam attack revealed that three militants had arrived at a seasonal house two kilometres from Baisaran in the upper reaches of Pahalgam at around 8 pm on the night of April 21, a day before the carnage took place.The NIA has arrested two Kashmiris on the charges of sheltering the Pahalgam perpetrators.“They were carrying AK-47 and M-9 carbine rifles. Two terrorists were dressed in black overalls while the third was in a disguise,” Shah said, adding that the trio left after taking food items, salt and some spices along with them.Shah said that the bullet shells recovered from the scene of the carnage in Pahalgam were sent to a forensic lab in Chandigarh for analysis. He said that the rifles recovered from the militants killed in Srinagar on Monday were also sent to the lab in a special flight.“The ballistic report by Chandigarh lab and six experts have confirmed that these rifles were used in the Pahalgam attack. It has also been confirmed that these rifles were used in the attack in Sonamarg health resort last year. With this, the second attack has been solved,” he said.A Kashmiri doctor was among seven workers killed in the attack on a makeshift residential base of Apco construction company on October 20 2024 which was involved in building the strategic Z-Morh tunnel.The tunnel on the strategic Srinagar-Leh highway was officially inaugurated by the prime minister Narendra Modi in January this year.Politics and ‘terrorists’ religion’Shah went on to add that in the aftermath of the tragedy in Pahalgam, the sketches of the suspects were prepared by the security agencies. He said that the mothers of two Kashmiris arrested by the NIA have verified that the three militants killed in the Srinagar encounter had visited their homes.“The two suspects (arrested by NIA) have also confirmed the identity of the perpetrators and now it has also been verified by the FSL report which came at 4 in the morning today,” he said.While speaking in the Lok Sabha, Shah took a jibe at the opposition, saying that they “didn’t look happy” with the development on the Pahalgam attack, “I thought the opposition would be happy but their faces seem to have blackened. What is this? What kind of politics is this? Terrorists have been killed. Aren’t you happy,” Shah said.He also turned to Samajwadi Party leader and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav, saying: “Bhai, aap aatankwadi ka dharm dekh ke dukhi mat hoiye (Brother, don’t get upset at the religion of the terrorist)”.Shah said that he was upset over former Union home minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram’s remarks seeking for proof that the slain militants had come from Pakistan.“What is he trying to imply? What will he gain by saving Pakistan? We have proof. Out of three terrorists, we even have voter (ID) numbers of two. The chocolates recovered from their hideout are also made in Pakistan. If he (Chidambaram) is saying that they are not from Pakistan, then a former home minister of this country is giving a clean chit to Pakistan,” he said.Shah also falsely claimed that the “whole world” has agreed with the parliamentary delegations which visited several countries in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor that Pakistan was involved in the Pahalgam attack.What happened yesterdaySoon after the three suspected militants were gunned down at Lidwas area in the upper reaches of Srinagar’s Harwan locality on Monday morning, the spokesperson of the strategic Chinar Corps said that a “press brief” was being organised at its headquarter in Badami Bagh headquarters at 5 pm.The spokesperson said that the press conference was going to be presided by Chinar Corps commander Lieutenant General Prashant Srivastava along with “Senior Army and CAPF (central armed paramilitary forces) Officers”. There was no mention of the presence of J&K police officers in the press conference.“Briefing on ‘OP MAHADEV’ launched on 28 July 2025 which resulted in the neutralisation of 03 Hardcore Terrorists,” a media invite sent out by the army’s Srinagar-based public relations officer (PRO) Lieutenant Colonel M.K. Sahu said.However, as some Delhi-based media outlets started reporting that “Suleiman Shah alias Hashim Musa”, a top Lashkar-e-Tayyaba operative believed to be involved in the Pahalgam terrorist attack, was among those killed in the Srinagar encounter, the army PRO called off the press conference.“Good evening everyone. Dur (sic) to some new developments in the said operation the media brief has been postponed. Will intimate fresh date and time. Thanks and regards,” the PRO said.The J&K Police didn’t give out any details on Monday about the encounter. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the police sought to urge the media to wait for the official confirmation of the identities of the slain militants.“The identification of the neutralised #terrorists is being done! Please await further details,” the Kashmir zone police said in the post.