Just days before the explosion that ripped through a white Hyundai i20 near Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday evening, security agencies had dismantled what they described as a “white-collar terror module” operating out of Haryana’s Faridabad.
The massive crackdown between November 8 and 10, which led to the seizure of nearly 3,000 kilograms of explosives, triggered what investigators are now calling “panic and desperation” in one of the key suspects, Dr Umar Nabi.
What Dr Uman allegedly did on Monday afternoon
Dr Umar, a Pulwama-based doctor employed at Al-Falah Hospital in Faridabad, is believed to have been behind the wheel of the car that exploded near Gate No. 1 of the Red Fort Metro Station, killing at least ten people and injuring several others.
“Raids by security agencies across multiple locations in Delhi-NCR and Pulwama, recovery of significant quantities of explosives, are believed to have led the suspect to act hastily under mounting pressure,” an officer told Hindustan Times.
The officer added that the blast was “caused by panic and desperation” after the raids, saying, “The bomb was premature and not fully developed, thus limiting the impact.”
CCTV footage from the area reportedly confirms that Dr Umar was driving the i20 when it exploded.
Notably, the roots of this case seemed to stretch back to October 19, when Jammu and Kashmir Police found objectionable Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) posters in Srinagar and Nowgam. Following this, Moulvi Irfan Ahmad and Zamir Ahmad, followed by another suspect, Adeel, a doctor nabbed from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur on November 5.
On November 8, security personnel recovered an AK-56 rifle and explosives from a hospital in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir.
Just two days later, a staggering 2,563 kilograms of explosives were seized from the residence of Hafeez Mohammad Ishtiyaq, the Imam of Al-Falah Mosque in Mewat’s Dhera colony. Another 358 kilograms of bomb-making materials were later found in adjoining premises.
Investigators said that Dr Umar, part of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), likely panicked as raids intensified and “managed to escape” amid the crackdown, per the HT report.
“In a state of panic following the crackdown, he moved toward the Red Fort area. Whether the blast was deliberate or accidental will be determined after forensic analysis, but it is part of the same chain of incidents,” another officer told HT.
For now, the probe into the Red Fort explosion has now been officially handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
