The Resistance Front (TRF), which emerged in Kashmir after the scrapping of the erstwhile state's special status under Article 370 in 2019 and executed several attacks in the region in the last few years, has claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror strike.

Though the militants involved in Tuesday’s massacre at Baisaran Valley remain at large, security agencies on Wednesday released the sketches of three suspected perpetrators, all Pakistanis.

The sketches were prepared with the help of the testimonies of the survivors.

The trio were identified as Asif Shaikh Fauji, Suleman Shah and Abu Talha, all members of the TRF, believed to be a proxy for the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

They have the code names Moosa, Yunus and Asif and were earlier involved in terror attacks in Poonch.

While most active members of the TRF are believed to be non-locals, officials claim the group was founded by two Kashmiris — Sajjad Gul and Abbas Sheikh. Gul isan elusive MBA graduate while Sheikh is a tailor from south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Gul was designated as a terrorist in 2023 and is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Sheikh and his associate Saqib Dar were killed in a purported gunfight with the security forces in Srinagar.

The Telegraph had visited Sheikh’s home last year, where his family said he was obsessed with militancy and claimed they had lost more than a dozen members and relatives to militancy.

Sheikh’s children rarely saw their father as he spent much of his time in jails or as an underground activist.

“He would always think about Kashmir Jihad. Sometimes, we thought he would settle down and think about the family. That was the last thing he did,” a member of his family said.

The home ministry had in 2023 declared the TRF a “terrorist organisation” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for “propaganda on terror activities, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir”.

The move came months after the TRF issued a threat to journalists in Kashmir.

The hunt for the killers comes at a time when a photograph of a suspected attacker is doing the rounds on social media.

The image shows a man in plainclothes wielding an AK-47.

However, the picture’s authenticity is yet to be verified.

Sources said the investigation revealed that at least one of the attackers might be a local.

“Initial findings suggest that three to four terrorists were involved in the attack,” an official said.

Investigators said they were looking into whether they sought any local assistance in conducting reconnaissance before carrying out the strike.

Sources said cartridges recovered from the site indicate militants were armed with assault rifles and at least one US-made M4 carbine.

An NIA team visited the attack site on Wednesday to assess the situation and collect evidence.