On Sunday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that it has arrested one of the prime conspirators of the November 10 Red Fort blast - a Kashmir-based plumber whose Hyundai i20 exploded near the heritage site, killing 11 people. For the first time, the agency officially described the driver as a “suicide bomber” and the car as a “vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED).”
Plumber from Pampore held in Delhi
As per a report by the Hindustan Times, the federal anti-terror agency, in a statement, said, “Amir Rashid Ali, in whose name the car involved in the attack was registered, was arrested from Delhi… The accused, a resident of Samboora, Pampore in J&K, had conspired with the alleged suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi, to unleash the terror attack.”
Ali had allegedly gone to Delhi to assist in the procurement of the vehicle, which was later modified and used as the explosive-laden car. According to investigators, the Hyundai i20, bearing registration number HR26CE7674, had changed hands several times and was fitted with a CNG tank before the blast.
Suicide bomber identified by forensic tests
The i20 exploded at 6.52 pm on November 10 on Netaji Subhash Marg, instantly engulfing the vehicle in flames and killing at least 11 people nearby. The statement further stated, “NIA has forensically established the identity of the deceased driver of the Vehicle Borne IED as Umar Un Nabi, a resident of Pulwama District and Assistant Professor in the General Medicine Department in Al Falah University.”
The agency further said that it has seized "another vehicle" belonging to Umar, which is under forensic analysis. So far, officials have examined 73 witnesses, including the injured ones.
Trail of vehicles and wider network under probe
According to the report by the Hindustan Times, before the blast, Ali and Umar, along with a third person identified as Sonu, were seen at a petrol pump in Faridabad on October 29 to get a pollution certificate for the i20. Sonu worked at the second-hand dealership from where the vehicle had been purchased.
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During earlier searches, the investigators seized three other vehicles-a Maruti Brezza, a Ford EcoSport, and a Swift Dzire-to understand the logistics behind the attack. The security agencies are probing what they call a "white-collar terror network" operating across Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Multiple teams are tracking suspects, funding routes and possible foreign links.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has separately registered an FIR, investigating whether the module had planned a suicide attack on the lines of the Pulwama incident in 2019. An officer, on condition of anonymity, said, “Multiple teams are following leads across states as part of efforts to uncover the broader conspiracy behind the case. The investigation remains active and multi-layered, with the agency focusing on identifying additional suspects, funding channels, and possible foreign links.”
