Though investigators now have most of the essential details of how the Delhi explosion was conceived and carried out, the probe has expanded significantly as agencies fan out across multiple states to secure the material evidence required for the trial, writes Masood Hussain
When the Hyundai i20 rolled to a halt at a red signal outside the Red Fort Metro Station on the evening of November 10, nothing about the car suggested that it carried nearly 15 lives’ worth of catastrophe. In seconds, a deafening blast ruptured the calm of Old Delhi, sending fireballs shooting across the crowded intersection and hurling shrapnel in every direction.
The driver of the car, later identified as Dr Umar Nabi of Pulwama, an assistant professor at Al Falah University in Faridabad, was blown to pieces beyond recognition. His identity was confirmed through DNA testing, with the cops taking the samples from his mother.
No Solo Conspiracy
Sleuths in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi knew that an attack of this nature could not have been the work of one person. This triggered a multi-agency probe, which is perhaps the most elaborate investigation that has ever happened. Within hours of the blast, a trail of arrests, detentions, and interrogations spread across North India, revealed a chilling pattern: an emerging terror module fuelled not by the usual stereotypes of radical foot soldiers, but by educated, middle-class medical professionals, many of them in their twenties and early thirties, linked not by poverty or desperation but by ideology, and encrypted communication networks.
Delhi Police detained three persons the following day, including two doctors from Al Falah University, Mohammad and Mustakim, both reported to be known associates of Umar and allegedly in contact with Dr Muzammil Ganaie, who had been arrested earlier by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his role in the conspiracy.
The circle widened rapidly. A crackdown in Haryana’s Nuh district produced another detainee, Dinesh alias Dabbu, accused of selling fertiliser illegally. Police sources revealed the module had pooled nearly Rs 26 crore, with Rs 3 lakh used to buy NPK fertiliser, often repurposed in home-made explosives. On the other side of the northern plains, in West Bengal, NIA officers picked up Janisur Alam, an MBBS student at Al Falah University and a resident of Ludhiana with ancestral roots in Uttar Dinajpur. Alam was detained while returning from a wedding, after officers tracked his movements through mobile tower records. In Punjab’s Pathankot, another doctor with previous links to Al Falah University faced questioning. The widening dragnet showed that the terror module was not just a Kashmiri circle; it had tentacles across at least five states.
Focus on Kashmir
Yet the most striking developments still came from Kashmir, where the house of Umar was demolished in a night-time controlled explosion in Pulwama. Before that, they had recovered Umar’s damaged mobile phone, retrieved recordings of various videos in which he attempted to justify the Delhi attack. The phone reached the police only after Umar’s brother, Zahoor Illahi, admitted under interrogation that Umar had handed him the device days before the blast, instructing him to “dump it in water” if anything happened. Though the phone had been submerged, forensic experts managed to retrieve the videos and other content.
In Kashmir, the police simultaneously initiated various other actions. At the top of the agenda was to locate and interact with the traders who sell ammonium nitrate as part of the nitrogen-rich agriculture fertiliser. “These inspections are carried out to plug all possible loopholes that could be exploited for terror or criminal activities, and to maintain a robust security environment,” the police said in a statement. Officials associated with the exercise said accessing explosives from Pakistan has become difficult, so the militants are relying on locally available material, and ammonium nitrate is the most easily available product in the market.
Teams mandated for the exercise were seen checking the stock registers, getting an idea about the users, storage systems and the quantum of chemicals that were changing hands.
At the same time, the cops launched a major exercise to locate the car dealers who specialised in the resale of used cars. Though this was a hugely regulated area of business for a long time, the Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision to open the erstwhile state for used cars from the plains has pushed up the numbers. The cops were keen to ensure that the proper and legal means were used to prevent the misuse of these cars.
In anticipation of the blast probe, the police in Kashmir also stepped up verifications of the suspects, including members of the banned organisations and erstwhile militants. Their houses are continuously being inspected, and in certain cases, some of them are being detained as well.
Also, the virtual vigil has gone up. Sleuths detained a doctor couple, Dr Umer Farooq Bhat and Shahzada Akhtar, from SMHS’s Super Speciality Hospital last week for their social media posts.
Besides, the police and the hospitals have jointly launched an inspection operation of the lockers used in the hospitals and the medical schools, which the staff and the students use for keeping personal belongings safe. These inspections are being carried out in all districts and in all hospitals. These were necessitated after a weapon was recovered from Dr Adeel Rather, one of the initial arrests in the case, abandoned locker in the GMC Anantnag on November 8.
Within days after the blast, different police agencies started raiding the jails across Jammu and Kashmir with a focus on segregating the native prisoners from non-natives and the criminals. Reports appearing in the media suggested the sleuths want to investigate if any of them are in touch with handlers within or outside Jammu and Kashmir, and if there were attempts at radicalising the detainees. The jails which were raided, including Kot Balwal jail, Poonch, Doda, Rajouri, and Kishtwar.
Six Formal Arrests
Amid these actions came two additional formal arrests in the case. One was Amir Rashid Ali, a resident of Samboora, Pampore, in whose name the explosive-laden car had been purchased. The security grid said that Amir had travelled to Delhi specifically to facilitate the purchase of the car later used in the blast, and also managed the safe house for the bomber.
The second arrest was that of Jasir Bilal Wani, a resident of Qazigund. Reports appearing in the media suggest that the police had detained him along with his brother Naveed, a lecturer, as the family lived in the neighbourhood of Rather brothers (arrested Adeel and absconding Muzaffar, who is said to be in Afghanistan), and were in touch with Umar.
Investigators suggest that Jasir had been groomed by the module’s mastermind, Dr Umar Nabi, who met the college student at a mosque in Kulgam in late 2023 and later kept him in a rented accommodation near Al-Falah University in Faridabad. Media reports suggest he was encouraging him to commit a suicide attack, but by 2025, Jasir refused, eventually pushing Umar himself to become the bomber.
After detaining the two brothers, police summoned their father, Bilal, a fruit seller, for questioning. His relatives told reporters that Bilal grew increasingly desperate as there was no response to his pleas that he may be permitted a chance to see his sons. On November 16, he allegedly poured petrol over himself near his Wanpora home and set his body alight. Though the doctors treated him at two hospitals, he eventually died of serious burn injuries.
The federal investigator had already formally arrested Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai of Pulwama, Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather of Anantnag, Dr Shaheen Saeed of Lucknow and Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay of Shopian.
The Nowgam Origins
As the investigations are still in progress, Nowgam, the origin of the deadly network’s exposure, shot into the limelight as the entire cache of chemicals went up in flames.
On October 19, it may be recalled, posters bearing threats by the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad appeared on the walls of the Bunpora Nowgam locality. Police worked on CCTV footage, eventually identifying three young men behind the act: Arif Nisar Dar, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar. Their arrests led officers to Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic who had become an imam in Shopian, whom investigators described as the ideological bridge between radical circles and medical students. From Irfan’s sessions and contacts emerged the links to Al Falah University.
The trail led to the arrests of Dr Muzzamil Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Sayeed in Faridabad, where officers seized nearly 2,900 kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sulphur, detonators, timers, and weapons. Investigators believe that the core leadership consisted of three doctors: Muzzamil, Umar, and Dr Muzaffar Rather, the last of whom is believed to be in Afghanistan.
The probe is widening as the sleuths are moving in all directions. Reports suggest the Faridabad Police have checked over 140 mosques, 1,700 tenants, 40 fertiliser shops, 200 guesthouses, and over 500 people from Jammu and Kashmir. UP’s Anti-Terror Squad examined records of nearly 200 Kashmiri-origin medical students. Assam Police, acting on suspicion, detained 44 men at New Tinsukia Railway Station, claiming to have travelled from Jammu and Kashmir for labour work, but who could not clearly identify the contractor who had summoned them.
The verification of the Kashmiris working or studying across the country has added to the worries of the parents and the concerns of the political class. Post-Delhi blast, newspapers routinely carry statements indicating that a scare is seen amongst the student community in most of the northern India campuses where tens of thousands of students are enrolled.
“A particular community is being singled out after the attack,” Nasir Khuaihami, a student activist, told reporters at the Press Club of India. “Students are being harassed on campuses and in neighbourhoods. Some landlords have told Kashmiri tenants to vacate immediately. Many have left for home out of fear.”
Even a concerned Chief Minister is pleading that every Kashmiri should not be looked at with suspicion. “Every resident of Jammu and Kashmir should not be seen with doubt,” Omar said the other day. “The people of Jammu and Kashmir are peace-loving and aspire for Viksit Bharat and Viksit Jammu and Kashmir. They want to be part of India’s growth story, and the recent enthusiastic participation of voters in the Nagrota and Budgam by-elections is a testament to our unwavering faith in democracy.”
