The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has revealed that the perpetrators of the suicide car bombing near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 2025 had initially planned a series of Hamas-inspired drone attacks targeting multiple high-security and crowded locations across the national capital. The shift to a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) occurred only after the drone-based rocket delivery system faced repeated technical failures, according to agency sources.

Investigators have established that the terror module, headed by Dr Umar un Nabi, a Kashmiri medical professional associated with Al Falah University in Faridabad, was actively developing weaponised drones capable of launching rocket-propelled explosives. The intended targets included Parliament House, India Gate, Connaught Place, airport perimeters, and other symbolic and densely populated sites. The plot drew direct tactical inspiration from drone warfare employed by Hamas against Israel and by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, with the objective of inflicting mass casualties and creating nationwide panic through coordinated aerial strikes.

The breakthrough in the investigation followed the arrest of two principal associates within the past 48 hours. Jasir Bilal Wani, a 27-year-old political science graduate from Jammu and Kashmir, was detained on Sunday and has been designated by the NIA as an active co-conspirator and potential second suicide bomber. Wani provided critical technical assistance in drone modification and rocket-explosive integration. The second arrestee, identified only as Amir, procured the Hyundai i20 vehicle subsequently loaded with high-grade IEDs. Interrogations confirmed that Wani had attended clandestine meetings of the “Doctor module” in a Kulgam mosque in October 2024 and later underwent intensive training in a rented accommodation near Al Falah University.

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Evidence recovered so far indicates that the module recruited multiple technical experts across states, maintained encrypted communication channels, and conducted reconnaissance of potential drone launch sites in the Delhi-NCR region. When the drone weaponisation project encountered insurmountable delays and the risk of detection increased, the group executed a rapid fallback plan involving the VBIED attack that claimed 14 lives and injured dozens near the Red Fort. Hours before the blast, security forces recovered several hundred kilograms of explosives, detonators, drone components, and circuitry from premises linked to Al Falah University.

Raids are continuing across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra as the NIA pursues remaining members of what it describes as a highly sophisticated “white-collar terror network” comprising educated professionals. Forensic examination of seized digital devices is underway to map the full extent of the conspiracy and identify any dormant cells or additional stockpiles that may still pose an imminent threat to national security.

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