Red Fort blast: NIA takes three doctors, religious preacher into custody

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday, November 20, took into custody three doctors and a preacher who were arrested in the case. Car explosion outside the Red Fort on November 10 Officials said 15 people were killed.

After the blast, Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wage along with Muzammil Ghani, Adeel Rather and Shahina Saeed.

An NIA spokesperson said, “All of them played an important role in the terrorist attack in which many innocent people were killed and many others were injured.”

With their custody transferred to the NIA, which formally took over the case on November 11, the number of people booked by the federal agency has risen to six.

The NIA has already arrested two people – Amir Rashid Ali and Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish.

Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the i20 loaded with explosives, had allegedly purchased the car in Ali’s name. Wani was arrested when it emerged that Omar was trying to convince him to become a suicide bomber. He was not disbarred but alleged that he had agreed to participate as an overground worker for the banned terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The arrested people are alleged to have been at the heart of the ‘white collar’ terror module busted by Jammu and Kashmir Police along with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The investigation led to Faridabad’s Al Falah University where 2,900 kg of explosives were recovered.

It all started on the intervening night of 18–19 October, when posters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed appeared on walls outside Srinagar city. The posters warned of attacks on police and security forces in the valley.

Srinagar Police decided to take the matter not as a mere incident but as a serious issue and Senior Superintendent of Police (Srinagar) GV Sandeep Chakraborty formed several teams to get to the bottom of the matter.

Three people – Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf and Maqsood Ahmed Dar alias Shahid – were arrested after they were seen pasting the posters in CCTV footage.

During interrogation, he named former Shopian paramedic-turned-preacher Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, who had supplied the posters. he was arrested.

This was the tip that led to the revelation of the conspiracy. It was their inquiries that ultimately led investigators to Al Falah University and a group of Kashmiri doctors.

The first person to be arrested was Ghani from Faridabad. Then Saeed is also from the city. Later Adeel Rather was picked up from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.