Pulwama attack suspect Bilal Ahmed Kuchey dies of heart attack

JAMMU: A suspect in the Feb 2019 Pulwama attack accused of harbouring and providing logistics support to the terrorists died of heart attack while in custody in a Jammu hospital late Monday night. Bilal Ahmed Kuchey was among 19 suspects formally charged over the attack on a CRPF convoy that killed over 40 personnel.

Sources said Kuchey, in his early 30s, had been shifted from Kishtwar jail to Jammu's Government Medical College and Hospital on Sept 17. He suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare condition in which the immune system attacks nerves. "The accused was in ICU under special supervision. He expired during treatment late Monday. Postmortem and other legal formalities are on," a hospital source said. NIA had arrested Kuchey in July 2020, nearly a year-and-a-half after the suicide attack carried out by a terrorist of the Pakistan-based JeM.