'Harboured Delhi Bomber Umar': One More J&K Doctor Arrested In Red Fort Blast Case

The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday arrested one more doctor from Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly harbouring Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was identified as the bomber in the car blast case near Red Fort in New Delhi.

This is the eighth arrest in the ongoing investigation into the “white-collar” terror module linked to the deadly blast, which claimed 15 lives on November 10.

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the accused doctor has been identified as Dr Bilal Naseer Malla, who also destroyed evidence related to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) conspiracy. He is from Baramulla in north Kashmir, the agency said.

The NIA said Dr Malla was involved in the “conspiracy behind the terrorist attack” and knowingly harboured Dr Umar. Besides

providing logistical support, he was also involved in the destruction of evidence related to the terror attack and the conspiracy, it said.

Following his arrest, he was produced before a designated court of principal district and sessions judge Anju Bajaj Chandna, who remanded him to seven days in NIA custody. The NIA said the investigation continues with the help of various central and state agencies.

It said this arrest solidifies the understanding that the terror module under probe involves numerous highly educated individuals. Several other accused include medical professionals, including three doctors – Dr Muzzamil Ganaie, Dr Adeel Rather, and Dr Shaheena Sayeed – and a religious preacher, Maulvi Irfan.

The NIA also arrested Amir Rashid Ali and Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish. Ali is the person in whose name Dr Umar had purchased the car loaded with explosives, including ammonium nitrate, before it exploded outside the Red Fort.

WHAT IS THE CASE?

The J&K police claimed to have busted this terror module along with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, leading them to Faridabad’s Al Falah University where 2,900 kg of explosives was recovered.

It all started on the intervening night of October 18 and 19, when posters of the banned JeM surfaced on walls just outside Srinagar city. The posters warned of attacks on police and security forces in the Valley.

The Srinagar police decided to treat the matter as a serious issue and senior superintendent of police (Srinagar) GV Sundeep Chakravarthy formed several teams to get into the depth of the case. Three people — Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid — were arrested after CCTV footage showed them pasting the posters.

During interrogation, they revealed name of former paramedic-turned-preacher Maulvi Irfan Ahmad from Shopian who had supplied the posters. He was later arrested.

This was the thread that led to the unravelling of the plot. It was Maulvi Irfan’s interrogation that finally led investigators to the Al Falah University and the group of Kashmiri doctors.

Dr Ganaie, a resident of Koil village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, was among the first arrested along with Dr Shaheen Saeed in Faridabad. Later, Dr Adeel Rather was picked up from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

(With PTI inputs)