The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested four additional suspects in connection with the 10 November blast outside the Red Fort, taking the total number of accused in custody to six.
The arrests were made on Thursday after production orders were issued by the District Sessions Judge at Patiala House Court, the agency said in its official statement.
Four arrested from Srinagar; NIA calls them ‘key players’
The four arrested have been identified as:
Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai (Pulwama, J&K)
Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather (Anantnag, J&K)
Dr Shaheen Saeed (Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)
Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay (Shopian, J&K)
According to NIA, all four “played a key role in the terror attack that killed several innocent persons and left many others injured.”
These arrests come after the earlier detention of Amir Rashid Ali, in whose name the blast-car was registered, and Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish, who allegedly provided technical support to the main perpetrator.
Blast killed 15, investigation spans multiple states
The high-intensity explosion occurred inside an i20 car near the Red Fort on 10 November, killing 15 people. Investigators say Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the explosives-laden vehicle, had purchased the car in Ali’s name.
Wani was arrested after it emerged that Umar had tried to persuade him to become a suicide bomber. Though he refused, he allegedly agreed to work as an overground helper for Jaish-e-Mohammed, investigators said.
The arrests have exposed what officials describe as a “white-collar terror module” operating across Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
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The probe also led authorities to Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where 2,900 kg of explosives was seized just a day before the Red Fort attack.
With the NIA formally taking over the investigation on November 11, the agency has now booked six suspects in the case.
