The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday took over the probe into the February 14 Pulwama suicide bombing from the Jammu and Kashmir police.
The NIA has re-registered the case and formed a team to investigate the deadliest terror strike in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, an NIA spokesperson said.
NIA Director General Y C Modi, along with a team of officers including two IGs, DIG and SP, visited the place of occurrence of the February 14 incident. The officers of CRPF and local police briefed the NIA team about the progress made in investigation so far.
The State police had registered a case at the Awantipora police station on February 14 after a suicide bomber hit his explosive-laden vehicle on a CRPF bus, which was part of a 78-vehicle convoy, carrying over 2,547 personnel on their way from Jammu to Srinagar.
The NIA has already gathered samples from the blast site at Lethpora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir and has been involved in the questioning of around a dozen suspects and witnesses, officials said.
The NIA has also met senior police, intelligence and army officers to gather any possible leads or evidence, they said.
The NIA will probe the planning and execution of the terror attack, the deadliest after the terrorism hit the State in 1989.
On Monday, three Jaish terrorists were killed in a 16-hour operation in Pulwama's Pinglan area, 12 km from the spot of the February 14 attack. An Army major and four security personnel also lost their lives in the encounter that led to the elimination of three Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists.
Apart from other technical and intelligence inputs, the Hizbul Mujahideen had also provided leads leading to the killing of the three top JeM commanders, sources said.
Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria and Ambassador to US Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, amid the heightened tension between the two countries post-Pulwana suicide bombing.
The terror attack in Pulwama prominently figured during the 20 minutes meeting between Bisaria and Singh. Bisaria was called back by the government for consultations after the Pulwama attack.
A home ministry spokesperson, however, described the two Indian envoys meeting the Minister as "courtesy call".
The meeting comes soon after India decided not to submit any evidence to Pakistan on the role of JeM in the Pulwama attack.
India will, however, share the facts to friendly nations to unmask the role of elements based in the neighbouring country in the attack, a Government official said.
The decision not to share the evidence with Pakistan was taken considering the past experience wherein Islamabad did not act after New Delhi gave multiple dossiers on the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and terror strike in Pathankot airbase.