Investigation handed over to NIA; Shah instructs agencies to hunt down every culprit involved
NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, Nov 11: The probe into the deadly car blast near the Red Fort was on Tuesday handed over to the premier anti-terror agency NIA as investigators zeroed in on a doctor from Pulwama in south Kashmir with suspected links to an inter-state “white collar” terror module.
Umar Nabi was driving the i20 car that exploded on Monday evening and is believed to be one of the 12 people killed, officials said.
Jammu and Kashmir police took a DNA sample from his mother to match with the parts found at the scene of the blast, an official said in Srinagar.
As the Delhi police filed an FIR calling the explosion “a bomb blast” and invoked sections relating to conspiracy and punishment for a terror attack under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed that all those responsible will be brought to justice.
After two security review meetings, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he has instructed security agencies to hunt down each and every culprit behind the Delhi blast–the first attack in the national capital after 13 years.
Officials involved in investigations said they did not rule out the possibility of the explosives in the car getting detonated accidentally as Umar may have panicked.
It has emerged during investigations that Umar waited in the Sunehri Masjid parking lot near the Red Fort for nearly three hours while scouring the internet about updates regarding his associates’ arrest in Faridabad. The investigators have also managed to establish an 11-hour trail of Umar’s vehicle.
There was no clarity yet on how many people were in the car during the blast. While initially there were claims that there were three people, another account said only Umar, who was on the run after the busting of the Faridabad terror module, was the lone occupant.
The blast occurred hours after eight people, including three doctors, were arrested and 2,900 kg of explosives seized with the uncovering of a “white collar” terror module involving the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and spanning Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Among those arrested on Monday were Dr Muzammil Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Sayeed, both connected to the Al Falah University in Faridabad from where 360 kg of ammonium nitrate was recovered.
According to investigators, Shaheen was leading the JeM’s women recruitment wing in India. She headed the Jamaat-ul-Mominat, the group’s female wing.
Umar, who hailed from Lethpora in Pulwama district, allegedly carried explosives, possibly ammonium nitrate, in the car, officials said.
Preliminary findings suggest ammonium nitrate, fuel oil and detonators may have been used in the blast that ripped through the slow moving car near a traffic signal.
As investigations into the blast and the terror module continues, officials said a man named Tariq from Pulwama district had given the i20 to Umar and is now under arrest.
Teams from Delhi Police, NIA and intelligence agencies have fanned out across Delhi and Kashmir. Four people have been detained in the raids in Kashmir. Of the four, two have been shifted for joint interrogation for their role in the Delhi blast as well as the interstate terror module. (PTI)
