New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency has arrested Jasir Bilal Wani in Srinagar, who was an “active co-conspirator” of “suicide bomber Umar un Nabi”, in connection with the car blast near the Red Fort last week that claimed 13 lives, officials said on Monday.
A resident of Qazigund in Anantnag district south Kashmir, Wani allegedly provided “technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets” ahead of the deadly car bomb blast, the agency said in a statement.
Wani, who also goes by the alias Danish, was arrested in Srinagar by an NIA team, it said.
“The accused… was an active co-conspirator behind the attack and had worked closely with the terrorist, Umar un Nabi, to plan the terror carnage,” the NIA statement said.
The agency is exploring “various angles” to unravel the conspiracy behind the November 10 blast in the national capital.
“Several teams of the anti-terror agency are pursuing multiple leads, and are conducting searches across states to identify every person involved in the terror attack,” it said.
A bachelor in political sciences, Wani was intensely brainwashed by Umar for several months to become a suicide bomber. He had 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 Haryana’s Faridabad.
Wani, who was earlier detained by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, had revealed to his interrogators that while others in the module wanted him to be an over-ground worker (OGW) for the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed, Umar brainwashed him for several months to become a suicide bomber.
The plan, however, collapsed in April this year after he backed out, citing his poor economic condition and the belief that suicide was forbidden in Islam.
The suicide bomber scouting plot adds a dangerous new dimension to the investigation into the interstate terror network linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
As reported by PTI earlier, Umar, a 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama, emerged as the most radicalised and key operative in the network spanning Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, and officials believe he was planning a powerful vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) blast timed around the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary on December 6.
However, his plans were to place a VBIED around a crowded place, either in the national capital or at some place of religious importance, and disappear, said the officials, piecing together the evidence.
Wani’s interrogation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police had revealed that Umar’s transformation began after a trip to Turkiye in 2021 with co-accused Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, where they allegedly met JeM OGWs.
Following the trip, Umar and Ganaie, who taught at the Al Falah University, began accumulating vast quantities of chemicals from the open market, including 360 kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and sulphur, much of which was stored near the university campus.
The December plot could not materialise after Srinagar Police’s meticulous investigation led to Ganaie’s arrest and the seizure of the explosives, triggering a possible panic in Umar, which finally ended with a premature blast outside the Red Fort that left 13 people dead.
The intricate interstate terror network was exposed when JeM posters appeared on the walls in Bunpora and Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar, on October 19.
Srinagar police registered a case and reviewed CCTV camera footage, leading to the arrest of three locals — Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid — all having prior stone-pelting cases registered against them.
Their interrogation led to the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic-turned-Imam from Shopian, who allegedly supplied the posters and radicalised the doctors.
Delhi court sends Red Fort blast accused to 10-day NIA custody
A Delhi court on Monday sent Red Fort car bomb blast accused Amir Rashid Ali to 10-day NIA custody.
Ali was produced before the New Delhi district Principal District and Sessions Judge, Anju Bajaj Chandna, in Patiala House courts complex amid tight security around 11.30 am.
Mediapersons were not allowed to enter the court as the proceedings were held in camera.
Court sources said Judge Chandna allowed the agency’s plea to interrogate Ali in its custody for 10 days.
“Personnel from the Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in and around the court complex,” said a police officer, adding that anti-riot gear-equipped teams were on standby to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Ali, a resident of Kashmir, who had allegedly “conspired with suicide bomber Dr Umar Un Nabi to carry out the terror attack”.
The federal agency said Ali, in whose name the car involved in the blast was registered, had been arrested in the national capital.
Investigations by the probe agency had revealed that the accused, a resident of Samboora in south Kashmir’s Pampore, had conspired with the “suicide bomber”, Nabi, to unleash the terror attack.
Ali 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.
Thirteen people were killed and several were injured after an explosives-laden car exploded near the Red Fort in the national capital on November 10.
Nabi, a resident of Pulwama, was driving the car. He had links with a “white-collar terror module” that was busted with the recovery of explosives mainly from Faridabad in Haryana.
Dry fruit seller picked up for questioning succumbs to burn injuries
A dry fruit seller, who had set himself on fire after being picked up by police for questioning in connection with the terror module case, succumbed to injuries at a hospital here, officials said on Monday.
Bilal Ahmad Wani had himself on fire on Sunday in Qazigund. He was referred to the SMHS Hospital here after his condition worsened at a Anantnag hospital late on Sunday, the officials said.
They said Wani succumbed to burn injuries half past midnight.
Wani, along with his son Jasir Bilal, was picked up by police for questioning in connection with the terror module case. While Bilal was subsequently released, his son remains in custody for questioning, they said.
Wani is a neighbour of Dr Muzaffar Rather, who has emerged as a key accused in the “white collar terror module” case.
While Muzaffar is currently believed to be in Afghanistan, his younger brother, Dr Adeel Rather, was arrested from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on November 6.
Death toll in Red Fort blast rises to 15 as two more injured succumb in hospital
The death toll in the November 10 blast near the Red Fort rose to 15 after two more injured persons succumbed to their injuries at the LNJP Hospital here, an official said on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Lukmaan (50) and Vinay Pathak (50), a senior police officer said.
Another victim, Bilal, had died during treatment last Thursday to take the toll to 13. With the latest fatalities, the number of those killed in the high-intensity explosion has now climbed to 15, with many others still undergoing treatment, the officer said.
The Delhi Police said they received information about the latest deaths from the hospital, adding that post-mortem examinations will be conducted soon.
