The Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) at Pampore in the Kashmir Valley was a deliberate target because of its advantageous structure and safe spaces “known to the militants.”
Sources said it could be the first ‘spectacular’ attack launched by the new Kashmir chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, named after the killing of Abu Qasim in October last year. Preliminary reports suggest the building was “identified as vulnerable” in the backdrop of Qasim’s plans to take over hotels and building to carry out ‘spectacular’ attacks. In fact, Qasim was behind a Mumbai-type abortive bid to take over a hotel, Silver Star, frequented by non-locals on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway on October 10, 2012.
