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The layers of this conspiracy began to unravel on October 18 this year, following a poster campaign in the Nowgam area of Srinagar
A deadly explosion took place near the Red Fort Metro Station in Delhi on Monday. (Image/PTI)
The explosion near the Red Fort in Delhi on Monday evening has tragically claimed twelve lives so far, while more than twenty-eight have been injured. This exclusive report reveals how a doctor driven by a Jihadi ideology executed this blast, who is behind the conspiracy, and how its threads connect across state lines.
The car bomb blast that occurred in Delhi yesterday evening has once again jolted the nation, highlighting the persistent threat of Pakistan-backed terrorism. The death toll from this attack has reached twelve, with the number of injured exceeding twenty-five. The terrorist who carried out this fidayeen (suicide) attack has connections emerging with the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
The Execution: Dr Umar Mohammed’s Fidayeen Attack
Security agencies’ investigation so far has revealed that the fidayeen attack was carried out by Dr Umar Mohammed, whose body was ripped apart in the explosion. Dr Umar was driving the Hyundai i20 car used to execute the blast. He left Faridabad with the car at 7 AM on Monday morning, a movement captured by CCTV cameras along the route.
Police investigation has found that the i20 car, driven by Dr Umar, entered Delhi via the Badarpur toll plaza at 8:13 AM. At 8:20 AM, the car was spotted at a petrol pump in the Okhla Industrial Area. Later, at 3:19 PM, the car entered the parking area near the Red Fort complex.
The timing of the explosion in the evening near the Red Fort was deliberate. Firstly, the Red Fort has historical significance; secondly, the area is extremely crowded in the evening. The Prime Minister also addresses the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15. By executing the explosion here, the terrorists aimed to send a major, dangerous message.
The Explosives and The Conspiracy’s Genesis
The explosive used was Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO). This type of explosive is easy to prepare by mixing readily available urea with fuel oil. Terrorists nowadays generally avoid using RDX, as it is difficult to acquire, and tracing its origins is easier.
Regarding Dr Umar, the Jammu and Kashmir Police received information about him from another doctor, Dr Muzammil, who, after intense interrogation, revealed sensational details about a large terrorist plan hatched with his associates. Dr Umar, born on February 24, 1989, studied medicine at Government Medical College Srinagar, where he befriended Muzammil. After completing their MBBS in 2017, both worked as resident doctors there. Two years ago, they moved to Al-Falah University Medical College in Faridabad to work as doctors.
Current investigations suggest that these JeM-linked terrorists intended to carry out bomb blasts across the entire country and had made extensive preparations. However, after several of his associates, including Dr Muzammil, were apprehended one after another, Dr Umar, in a hurry, executed the fidayeen attack near the Red Fort in Delhi on Monday evening, intending to succeed in his deadly mission before the police could reach him.
Tracing the Network: From Posters to Pistols
The layers of this conspiracy began to unravel on October 18 this year, following a poster campaign in the Nowgam area of Srinagar. On the night of the 18th, three or four posters appeared in Nowgam, threatening and vowing to kill the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces. Such poster campaigns were frequent before the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 but had largely ceased thereafter.
The unusual nature of the postering, without any specific occasion, put the Srinagar Police on high alert. Police officials consulted with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who instructed the police to get to the bottom of the incident, as law and order remains his direct responsibility under the Rules of Business, despite the presence of an elected government led by Omar Abdullah.
Following Sinha’s directive, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, led by Srinagar SSP Sandeep Chakravarty, intensified their investigation. An FIR was filed against unknown persons on October 19. CCTV footage from the Nowgam area revealed three youths pasting the posters: Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmed Dar, all residents of Nowgam.
Interrogation revealed that these youths were regular stone-pelters before the abrogation of Article 370, earning five to six hundred rupees daily. They disclosed that they were instructed by a Maulvi (cleric), who was the same person who made them paste the posters on October 18 at the behest of his Pakistani handler.
The police tracked the Maulvi to Chanpura, an outer part of Srinagar, where he was the Imam of the Ali Naqibagh Mosque. The Imam, identified as Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, originally from Shopian, had a long history of involvement in terror activities. He not only supplied weapons to terrorists but also sent Kashmiri youths to Pakistan for terror training. This same Maulvi had routinely instigated stone-pelting against security forces before 2019.
Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, under intense questioning, provided information about Dr Adil. The Maulvi confessed to meeting the Jihadi-minded Dr Adil in Anantnag, where Adil was working as a resident doctor after studying at the local medical college. The Maulvi admitted seeing a pistol with Dr Adil and also provided information about another Jihadi named Zameer.
Based on this, the Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested Zameer Ahmed Ahanger (a resident of Ganderbal) and began searching for Dr Adil. They learned that Dr Adil, originally from Wanpura in Kulgam district, had left Anantnag and was working at a hospital in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. With the help of the UP ATS, they apprehended Dr Adil. Adil had worked at Vibrosh Hospital and had recently joined another famous hospital in Saharanpur, where he got married. Several of his Muslim colleagues from Kashmir attended his wedding.
The Explosives Cache and Subsequent Arrests
During the interrogation of Dr Adil, the J&K Police learned about Dr Muzammil Ahmed Ganai alias Musaib, who was actively involved in the terror conspiracy. Muzammil had left Srinagar and was working as a doctor at Al-Falah University Medical College in Faridabad, Haryana. Dr Adil also confessed to hiding an AK-56 rifle in a locker at the Anantnag Government Medical College, which the police subsequently recovered.
The focus then shifted to Dr Muzammil. Upon reaching Al-Falah University and intensely questioning him, he disclosed a hideout in Faridabad where he had stored large quantities of materials and equipment for preparing IEDs. Based on this information, the police recovered 358 kilograms of explosive material along with detonators and other devices from the location.
During his interrogation, Dr Muzammil also confessed about his girlfriend, Dr Shaheen Saeed, a native of Lucknow, who was working as an Assistant Professor at the same university. Muzammil revealed he had hidden an AK-47 rifle with his Jihadi-minded girlfriend.
The local police, with the help of their Haryana counterparts, started searching for Dr Shaheen Saeed. By then, the lady doctor had learned of her boyfriend’s arrest and, in a panic, threw the AK-47, which was hidden in her car, onto a dumping site behind Al-Falah University. Dr Shaheen was arrested, and the police, based on her disclosure, recovered the AK-47 rifle from the dumping site.
During this time, Dr Muzammil’s interrogation also revealed another Jihadi conspirator named Haji Ishtiaq, a resident of Singar-Punhana village in Mewat. Ishtiaq had developed a close friendship with Dr Muzammil, and both shared a Jihadi ideology, aiming to destabilise India with hundreds of bombings.
The police arrested Haji Ishtiaq, who had rented a house in Faridabad. When the J&K Police, with the help of Haryana Police, raided this house, they were stunned. They found 88 sacks containing a total of 2563 kilograms of explosive material. Ishtiaq’s hideout was also located behind Al-Falah University. The cache included Ammonium Nitrate, Potassium, Fuel Oil, detonators, batteries, and timers—materials capable of taking thousands of lives and executing hundreds of terror attacks.
In total, the raids at all the hideouts so far have yielded the J&K Police two AK-series rifles, one Chinese Star pistol, one Beretta pistol, and nearly 2900 kilograms of explosive material.
The Final Attack and Aftermath
When Dr Adil, Dr Muzammil, and Dr Shaheen Saeed were jointly interrogated, further sensational details about the large-scale terror plot were revealed, confirming that they had largely completed their preparations to devastate India at the behest of their Pakistani handlers in JeM.
It was through this interrogation that the police learned about Dr Umar, who had studied with Muzammil at Government Medical College Srinagar and was actively involved in the terror conspiracy. The J&K Police returned to Al-Falah University to apprehend Dr Umar. However, Umar had sensed that many of his associates had been caught and his arrest was imminent.
Dr Umar thus decided to carry out the fidayeen attack near the Red Fort—the very spot from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi often speaks about eliminating the country’s enemies. For the attack, he used an i20 car, 2014 make, registration number HR26CE7674. The car’s ownership was traced through multiple hands to Ilyas Amir from Shambura village, Pulwama, close to Dr Umar’s home. Amir, a bank ATM guard, had given the car to his friend, Tariq Ahmed Dar, who passed it to Dr Umar.
After arriving near the Red Fort around 3 PM yesterday afternoon, Dr Umar waited for three hours. When the traffic and crowd at the Red Fort intersection peaked in the evening, he detonated the explosion, causing massive loss of life and property, and making Delhi a victim of a terror attack once again.
Traditionally, it is often argued that poverty and lack of education lead Muslim youth towards Jihad or terrorism. However, looking at this latest terror conspiracy, all those involved are not only highly educated and well-off but are also employed in the humanitarian profession of medicine, which aims to save lives, not take them. Yet, driven by Jihadi ideology, they were focused on killing innocent people.
Had these terrorists not been arrested on time, the extent of the terrorist incidents these Jihadi-minded doctors, along with their associates, might have perpetrated at the behest of their handlers in Pakistan—who are frustrated after facing losses in Operation Sindoor and are constantly plotting attacks in India—is unknown.
The challenge for security agencies is not over, as it is unknown how many more individuals with Jihadi mindsets remain hidden. Consequently, the Union Home Ministry has transferred the case to the NIA (National Investigation Agency). Even before the NIA proceeds, the J&K Police have detained another doctor, Dr Sajad Ahmed Malla. The number of doctors who have betrayed their oath to serve humanity by engaging in terror conspiracies remains to be uncovered.
The country expects a speedy investigation and apprehension of all remaining conspirators. Once the full plot is exposed, preparations are underway to teach the masterminds a lesson, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearly stated from Bhutanese soil that those behind the conspiracy will not be spared.
Senior journalist with over 25 years experience across television, print and digital, Brajesh Kumar Singh is Group Editor-Integration and Convergence at Network18. A PhD in Communication, he is member of the Bo…Read More
Senior journalist with over 25 years experience across television, print and digital, Brajesh Kumar Singh is Group Editor-Integration and Convergence at Network18. A PhD in Communication, he is member of the Bo… Read More
November 11, 2025, 17:59 IST
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