A 32-year-old man, implicated in the deadly terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district five years ago, has passed away from a heart attack at a Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu. The accused, Bilal Ahmad Kuchey, was a resident of Hajibal village in Kakapora. He was one of the 19 individuals formally charged in connection with the incident, reported news agency PTI.
The terror attack, which occurred on February 14, 2019, in Pulwama’s Lethpora, claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel and left eight injured. A suicide bomber, associated with the Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), rammed his vehicle packed with explosives into into the CRPF convoy.
Officials said that Kuchey was transferred to the hospital on September 17 after falling ill while in the Kishtwar district jail. He died on Monday night due to a heart attack.
Kuchey, along with 18 others, had been charged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on August 25, 2020, for their alleged roles in the Pulwama attack. He was one of the seven individuals arrested in connection with the case.
Alongside the other accused, including Shakir Bashir, Insha Jan, and Peer Tariq Ahmad Shah, Kuchey was charged with aiding and providing shelter to JeM terrorists. The charges against them were filed under multiple laws, including the Ranbir Penal Code, Arms Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Foreigners Act, and the J&K Public Property (Prevention of Damages) Act.
Of the terrorists involved in the attack, six, including three Pakistani nationals, were killed in separate encounters. However, six others, including JeM founder Masood Azhar, remain at large.
The NIA has stated that the Pulwama attack was the result of a coordinated plot orchestrated by JeM’s leadership, based in Pakistan. According to the agency, JeM cadres had been sent for training in Afghanistan in collaboration with Al-Qaeda, Taliban, and Haqqani groups to learn the use of explosives and terror tactics.