nia-seeks-china-s-help-to-trace-gopro-linked-to-pahalgam-attack

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought judicial assistance from China to trace a GoPro Hero 12 Black camera allegedly used during last year’s Pahalgam attack.

 

According to NIA and intelligence sources, the attack was carried out by terrorists linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy The Resistance Front (TRF), resulting in the death of 26 tourists at the Baisaran meadow.

 

The camera is considered a key element in establishing pre-attack reconnaissance, movement patterns and operation preparations of the terror module in the Pahalgam attack. The equipment had reportedly been sent to China-based AE Group International Limited more than a year before the deadly terror attack. According to the probe, the camera was activated on January 30, 2024, in Dongguan, an industrial metropolis in China, and remains one of the critical electronic devices connected with the terrorist attack.

The NIA said it was trying to trace the buyer and end user of the GoPro Hero 12 Black camera, bearing serial number C3501325471706, via a legal request to China. The Ministry of Home Affairs has given its concurrence for issuing a LR to China seeking legal assistance in the ongoing investigation of the case (RC-02/2025/NIA/JMU) dated April 27, 2025.

 

On Monday, a special court permitted the NIA to seek judicial assistance from China to trace the purchaser and end user of the equipment allegedly linked to the Pahalgam attack. In its application before the Jammu court, the NIA said it needed to investigate the device’s origin, buyer, along with the end user for further investigation.

The NIA informed the court that it had issued a lawful notice under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to the manufacturer GoPro B.V., seeking details regarding the supply chain and activation of the device. India and China are not signatories to any mutual agreement, including the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty Agreement (MLAT) on the subject. 

The NIA had formally registered a First Information Report in the case on the night of April 26 after an order from the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation (CTCR) division of the MHA. The NIA also took over the case from J&K police five days after the dreaded attack. 

 

Also read: J&K 2025: A year of attack, response and recovery