Delhi blast probe widens as agencies track ‘white-collar’ module; NIA makes key arrest

In a major breakthrough in the Red Fort car blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Kashmir resident who had allegedly conspired with "suicide bomber" Dr Umar Un Nabi to carry out the terror attack, which claimed 13 lives.

Amir Rashid Ali, in whose name the car involved in the blast was registered, has been arrested in Delhi, the federal probe agency said in a release.

The NIA had launched a massive search operation after taking over the case from the Delhi Police.

NIA describes Umar as 'suicide bomber'

Investigations by the probe agency have reportedly revealed that the accused, a resident of Samboora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pampore, had conspired with the "suicide bomber", Umar, to unleash the terror attack.

Also read: Delhi blast: 15 doctors at Al Falah University are missing, say investigators

Amir had come to Delhi to allegedly facilitate the purchase of the car, which was eventually used as a "vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED)" to trigger the blast, the NIA said.

This was the first time the probe agency has described Dr Umar Un Nabi, who was behind the wheel when the car exploded near the Red Fort on November 10, as a "suicide bomber". Also, NIA has for the first time used the term "vehicle-borne IED" for the car.

Another vehicle seized

The NIA has forensically established the identity of the deceased driver of the "vehicle-borne IED" as Umar Un Nabi, a resident of Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir and an assistant professor in the general medicine department of Al Falah University in Faridabad.

The anti-terror agency has also seized another vehicle belonging to Umar. The vehicle is being examined for evidence in the case, in which NIA has so far examined 73 witnesses, including those injured in the blast.

Also read: Nowgam explosion 'accidental', says Jammu Kashmir police chief

Working in close coordination with Delhi Police, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Haryana Police, Uttar Pradesh Police and various sister agencies, the NIA is continuing its investigation across states. It is pursuing multiple leads to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the "bombing" and identify others involved in the case, the release said.

Woman doctor detained

Earlier on Sunday (November 13), a woman doctor from Haryana, working at GMC Anantnag in south Kashmir, was detained in Srinagar for questioning in relation to the “white-collar” terror module, suspected to be behind the Red Fort blast. Although she was later released, her phone is in the custody of the police for forensic tests.

The doctor, Priyanka Sharma of Rohtak in Haryana, was detained from her rented accommodation in Anantnag's Malaknag area, during a raid by the counter-intelligence teams of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, reported India Today.

The report, quoting sources, further stated that her name cropped up during an investigation following the arrest of Adeel, a former GMC Anantnag staffer who, during interrogations, told officials about individuals allegedly providing logistical or financial support to the terror module. A team of investigators from Haryana is likely to reach Anantnag for background verification, said officials.

Search operation in UP

Following the development in Kashmir, a large-scale search operation was conducted in Uttar Pradesh, where around 200 Kashmiri-origin medical students and doctors are currently under the scanner.

Also Read: What is ‘Mother of Satan’, the suspected explosive in the Delhi blast?

According to media reports, the state’s Anti-Terrorism Squad has reached out to colleges and universities where Kashmiri students are lodged in residential accommodations. The institutions are located across Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Saharanpur and other cities.

Three cartridges found at blast cite

In yet another development, security agencies are probing three bullet cartridges, two of them live rounds, recovered from the debris near the Red Fort blast site, reported PTI, quoting a source on Sunday.

The empty shell and two live bullets, a calibre not permitted for civilian use, were found close to the burnt Hyundai i20 car, which exploded on November 10 near the iconic Delhi monument, killing 13 people and wounding more than two dozen.

Also Read: Red Fort blast suspect Nabi stayed in Nuh until day before attack

According to the source, the 9mm rounds are generally issued to specialised units or individuals with explicit permission.

"The staff deployed at the spot were also asked to check their issued ammunition, but none was found missing. The cartridges were there, but there was no weapon to fire them. We are trying to understand the entire matter that how the bullets reached the spot," said the source as quoted by PTI.

The person said that security agencies are also preparing to re-create the entire route of the accused, Umar Nabi, from the time he left Faridabad, visited Nuh in Haryana, and had tea in Delhi – the whole sequence leading up to the blast. Authorities are stitching together call records, tower locations, and CCTV footage from over 50 cameras for the recreation.

NSG visits Nowgam police station

Meanwhile, teams of NSG, NIA and Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) on Sunday visited the Nowgam police station blast site in Jammu and Kashmir, where nine persons died and 32 others sustained injuries in an accidental blast, officials said.

Also Read: Delhi blast: Two FIRs filed against Al Falah University; 2 more doctors held

The central agencies visited the site to collect samples from the scene of the blast, which occurred on Friday night, officials added. They further informed that the samples will be analysed to check the nature of explosives seized from the 'white collar terror' module, which was stored at the Nowgam police station.

An accidental explosion ripped through the police station on Friday night while authorities were extracting samples from a large cache of explosives confiscated in the 'white-collar' terror module case.

‘Terror module looked for suicide bomber’

In a separate development, police said that the sophisticated 'white-collar' terror module, spearheaded by a group of doctors recently busted by Jammu and Kashmir Police, had been actively scouting for a suicide bomber since last year, with key planner Dr Umar Nabi pushing the agenda, officials said on Sunday.

Also Read: Who is Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan, sacked by J&K LG, now under lens in Red Fort blast probe?

Interrogation of an arrested co-accused was indicative that Umar, believed to have been killed while driving the explosives-laden car that blew up near the Red Fort on November 10, was a "hardcore radical" and insisted that a suicide bomber was essential for their operations.

Immediately, Srinagar police sent a team to Qazigund in south Kashmir and detained Jasir alias 'Danish', a bachelor in political sciences, on the basis of questioning of the co-accused, including Dr Adeel Rather and Dr Muzzaffar Ganaie.

Srinagar police, led by its SSP, Dr G V Sundeep Chakravarthy, cracked the entire 'white collar' terror module.

Plan collapsed

The detained person agreed to have met the 'Doctor module' in October last year at a mosque in Kulgam, from where he was taken to a rented accommodation at the Al Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana.

The detained person said that while others in the module wanted him to be an over-ground worker (OGW) for the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed, he was intensely brainwashed by Umar for several months to become a suicide bomber.

The plan, however, collapsed in April this year after the man backed out, citing his poor economic condition and the belief that suicide was forbidden in Islam.

(With agency inputs)