Investigators probing the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack have traced one of the mobile phones used by the terrorists to a shipment imported into Pakistan in 2021, financed through a Karachi-based bank that has previously come under scrutiny in terror-related investigations. The development has emerged during the ongoing investigation being carried out by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Jammu and Kashmir Police.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the probe has revealed that the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack were using two Xiaomi Redmi-series phones. One was a Redmi 9T imported in 2021, while the other was a Redmi Note 12 imported in 2023. Both devices were recovered after the three terrorists, Faisal Jatt alias Suleiman Shah, Habeeb Tahir alias Jibran and Hamza Afghani, were killed during an encounter in the Mulnar Mahadev area of Dachigam Forest in Jammu and Kashmir on 28th July 2025.
Phone traced to Pakistan import consignment
According to investigation sources, the Redmi 9T was part of a consignment imported by a Pakistan-based company named Tech Sirat Pvt Ltd, located on Clifton Road in Karachi. Details received from Xiaomi Global reportedly showed that the shipment reached Pakistan on 1st January 2021.
The documents linked the logistics and financing of the consignment to Faysal Bank Ltd, a major Islamic bank based in Pakistan. The delivery address mentioned in the shipment records was “Faysal House, Main Branch, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi.” Officials suspect the bank had financed the import through normal commercial banking procedures, such as letters of credit.
Investigators now believe that the phone was separated from the shipment and eventually supplied to Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.
“The phone used by the Pahalgam attackers appears to have been smuggled out of this consignment and found its way to the LeT,” an officer associated with the investigation said. “Notably, since the import in 2021, the phone was never switched on until the Pahalgam attack.”
Past terror allegations linked to the bank
Although investigators clarified that there is currently no direct evidence linking Faysal Bank to the Pahalgam terror attack itself, the bank’s name has appeared in earlier terror financing investigations.
A 2007 report by The New York Times had stated that terrorists organisations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lajnat-al-Dawa, maintained accounts with Faysal Bank in the past. The report had also mentioned that the bank’s holding company denied any terror links and claimed the accounts were frozen once the organisations were banned or designated.
Investigators are also looking into older reports published after the 9/11 attacks, which suggested that several banned terror organisations in Pakistan had accounts in commercial banks, including Faysal Bank.
Second phone and hidden communication methods
The second phone recovered from the terrorists, a Redmi Note 12, was imported into Pakistan by Air Link Communications Ltd, a company based in Lahore. Officials said this phone too remained inactive for years and was switched on only shortly before the Pahalgam attack.
Sources said investigators could not recover regular communication records from the phones because the terrorists were using long-range radio communication systems instead of mobile networks or internet services. This method helped them communicate securely without leaving behind standard call or internet data trails.
However, agencies have managed to retrieve some photographs and maps stored inside the devices. These reportedly include images of Baisaran Meadows in Pahalgam and nearby areas.
One photograph showed a tent set up by the terrorists on 30th March 2025, weeks before the attack that killed 26 people. Investigators believe the camp was strategically located at a height, giving the terrorists a better view of security force movement in the area.
