Two days ahead of Kashmiri pandit Rahul Bhat's killing on Thursday, Jammu and Kashmir police had intelligence input on presence of three terrorists in Chadoora tehsil of Budgam and their plan to attack security forces, civilians and establishment.

The J&K police's inability to pursue the lead to its logical-end lead to the unfortunate incident of clerk Rahul Bhat being gunned down in his Chadoora tehsil office, said intelligence agency sources.

Multi Agency Centre (MAC) — a nodal platform for sharing intelligence inputs drawn from various agencies, had the intelligence input on May 10 which was shared with the J&K police as well, intelligence sources remarked.

But, in a follow up action, the police along with security forces gunned down two Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, Abu Ukasa and Faisal alias Sikander, in an operation in Bandipore district of north Kashmir.

Faisal is suspected to have partnered with Lateef Rather alias Osama, who also belonged to Chadoora, to unleash terror in Budgam through Bhat’s killing, the police said. The union territory police is on the hunt for absconding Rather.

Police sources said Faisal and Ukasa had left a hideout in Bandipore forest in which Gulzar Ahmad Ganai was hiding on May 11.

Ganai, however, was shot dead in the encounter — a day before Rahul Bhat's killing that lead to huge uproar and protests across the Union Territory.

LG Manoj Sinha has constituted a special investigative team to probe all aspects of the terror attack.

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