Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested another key accused in connection with last month’s Delhi bomb blast case.
A statement issued by NIA said that Dr. Bilal Naseer Malla of Baramulla (J&K) is the 8th accused to be arrested in the case RC-21/2025/NIA/DLI. He was nabbed by an NIA team from Delhi.
The statement said that NIA found him involved in the conspiracy behind the terrorist attack that killed 11 persons and injured several others in the Red Fort area. As per NIA investigations, Bilal had knowingly harboured the deceased accused Umar Un Nabi by providing him logistical support. He is also accused of destruction of evidence related to the terrorist attack.
“NIA is continuing with its investigation into the conspiracy behind the deadly terror act. The anti-terror agency is working closely with various central and state agencies to unravel all the threads of the conspiracy,” read the statement.
Meanwhile, the NIA on Tuesday conducted searches at several places in Anantnag and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir as part of its probe into the November 10 blast near the Red Fort in Delhi, officials said.
They said the NIA sleuths, assisted by police and CRPF, brought along two of the accused, Dr Adeel Rather and Jasir Bilal Wani, arrested in connection with a “white collar terror module”.
The searches were carried out at the instance of the two accused who had told the investigators about hideouts in the Mattan forest area of Anantnag and in Wanpora in the Qazigund area of Kulgam.
Jammu and Kashmir Police, with the help of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana police, busted the “white collar terror module” in the first week of November.
NIA, state police forces actively probing online radicalisation cases: Govt
The government on Tuesday told Parliament that the National Investigation Agency and various state police forces were actively pursuing online radicalisation cases, resulting in substantial arrests, chargesheets and convictions.
Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, said in a written reply to Lok Sabha that to check online radicalisation and misuse of encrypted digital platforms, a large number of “extremist” URLs (universal resource locator on the Internet) have been blocked under the Information Technology Act, while cyber-patrolling and surveillance efforts have been intensified.
The minister was responding to a question on measures taken by the government to counter terrorism.
“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and state police forces have been actively pursuing online radicalisation cases, resulting in substantial arrests, chargesheets and convictions,” Rai said.
The government has also undertaken major counter-terrorism measures, focusing on intelligence enhancement, inter-agency coordination and strengthening of border security, which have significantly strengthened the capacity of central and state law enforcement agencies for mitigation of terror risks, Rai said. (PTI)
