Jammu, Aug. 12 -- The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has collected blood and hair samples from two brothers, Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, arrested in connection with the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, to determine whether they played a larger role than merely providing shelter to the assailants. The samples were taken from Amphalla Jail in Jammu, where the two are currently lodged. Sources said the DNA profiles will be matched with clothes, weapons, and other articles recovered from the three Pakistani terrorists - Suleiman Shah, Hamza Afghani alias Afghan, and Jibran - who carried out the massacre.

The trio had gunned down 25 tourists and a local pony operator at the Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on April 22. All thr...