India begins fake encounters under guise of Operation Mahadev

 Pakistani security sources and regional media allege that Operation Mahadev, launched by Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir, is being used to stage fake encounters—particularly targeting detained Pakistanis—to mask failures in previous operations like Operation Sindoor  

They claim that following the Pahalgam attack—widely reported to have been a false flag—Indian agencies resumed these fabricated operations, portraying innocent civilians or detainees as infiltrating terrorists  Media visuals allegedly include planted weapons and pre‑staged footage, provided to Indian outlets to support the narrative. 

These claims assert that Pakistanis illegally held in Indian prisons, including those identified by Pakistan’s DG ISPR, may be coerced into staged confessions or even killed in these encounters and presented as “cross‑border terrorists.

Human rights organizations have long documented extrajudicial killings and fake encounters in Kashmir, suggesting a structural pattern where security forces label civilians as militants for political and operational gain 

While India and its security forces assert that Operation Mahadev was a legitimate counter‑terrorism operation, killing three terrorists—including the alleged mastermind of the April 2025 Pahalgam attack—outside Srinagar on July 28, independent verification of those claims remains limited 

In summary, these allegations depict a broader pattern of state‑sanctioned fake encounters in Kashmir, now allegedly continued under Operation Mahadev to salvage political credibility, though they remain largely unconfirmed by independent evidence.