A Delhi court on Thursday remanded four suspects, including three medical professionals, to 10 days of custody with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the high-intensity car bomb explosion near the Red Fort on November 10, which killed at least 15 people and injured over 20 others. The accused—Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie, Dr Shaheen Saeed, Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, and Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay—were produced before the Patiala House Court following production orders after their initial arrests by Jammu and Kashmir police. The NIA, which took over the probe from Delhi Police shortly after the blast under directives from the Union Home Ministry, described the group as key players in a sophisticated "white-collar terror module" allegedly orchestrated by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its offshoot Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
The explosion occurred around 6:52 p.m. IST when a white Hyundai i20, laden with improvised explosives including ammonium nitrate, detonated in slow-moving traffic near the Red Fort metro station's Gate No. 1, a bustling tourist hub in Old Delhi. Eyewitnesses reported a massive fireball engulfing nearby vehicles, shattering windows, and causing widespread panic in the crowded bazaars surrounding the 17th-century Mughal-era monument, a UNESCO World Heritage site and symbol of India's independence. Dr Umar Nabi, a 28-year-old assistant professor at Haryana's Al-Falah University and a Pulwama native, was identified as the suspected suicide bomber driving the vehicle; CCTV footage showed a masked figure at the wheel moments before the blast. The attack, the deadliest in the capital since the 2011 Delhi High Court bombing, prompted immediate lockdowns at airports, railway stations, and heritage sites nationwide, with the Red Fort closed for three days amid heightened security.
Investigators uncovered the terror module's operations spanning Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, with Al-Falah School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Faridabad serving as a covert hub for radicalisation and logistics. Dr Ganaie, from Pulwama, allegedly procured weapons—including a Carom Cok rifle, two pistols, and 84 cartridges—and stockpiled over 2,900 kg of explosives and chemicals at his Faridabad residence, introduced to an ISIS-linked network by Wagay, a Shopian-based preacher and paramedic who radicalised medical students at Srinagar's Government Medical College. Dr Saeed, a Lucknow resident and former lecturer, reportedly oversaw JeM's women's recruitment brigade for psychological operations and was linked to the bomber through a personal relationship; a Krinkov assault rifle was seized from her car. Dr Rather, from Anantnag and arrested in Saharanpur, disseminated JeM propaganda posters in Srinagar. The probe began in October after such posters surfaced, leading to arrests that unravelled the network's two-year plot targeting high-density civilian areas.
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With these four arrests, the NIA tally reaches six, including Amir Rashid Ali, whose name was on the blast vehicle's registration, and Jasir Bilal Wani, who provided technical support. The agency is collaborating with state police to dismantle the module's remaining 22 professionals, including engineers and doctors, while the Enforcement Directorate raids 25 sites linked to Al-Falah University for funding trails. Officials emphasised that while the blast exposed vulnerabilities in urban radicalisation, enhanced surveillance and inter-agency coordination have bolstered India's counter-terrorism framework, urging sustained vigilance against JeM's cross-border directives. The investigation continues, with forensic analysis confirming the blast's deliberate nature and no evidence of accidental causes like a CNG leak.
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