Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 14: The residential house of Dr Umar Un Nabi, who is identified as the lone suicide bomber driving the explosive-laden Hyundai i20 car which exploded near ionic Red Fort killing 13 people on November 10 evening, has been demolished by the security agencies,
The demolition was carried out the intervening night of November 13-14 in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, officials said on Friday. The J&K Police, however, issued no statement on the demolition of the house of the Red Fort blast accused.
Umar was behind the wheels of the Hyundai i20 that was laden with explosives. His identity was confirmed after DNA samples collected from the blast site matched with those of his mother.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti called out the demolition of the house of Dr Umar Nabi saying action being taken against the friends and families of the terror suspects has created an atmosphere of fear in the valley. Emphasising that while her party was all for stringent action against those involved in the Delhi blast, the government should ensure that innocent family members of the accused were not punished in the process.
“Many people died in the tragic incident in Delhi, and it has left the entire nation in sorrow. It has resulted in raids across Kashmir. We are not against action being taken against those who were behind it, but detaining their family members and friends has created an atmosphere of fear, especially in the valley,” Ms Mufti told reporters in Budgam.
Investigators have found that the three suspects — Dr Umar Nabi, Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, and Dr Shaheen Shahid — allegedly used a Switzerland-based encrypted messaging app to plan and coordinate their activities related to the terror conspiracy.
Police, investigating the blast said the suspects had pooled more than Rs 26 lakh in cash, which was handed over to Umar Nabi for safekeeping and operational use.
Using the pooled money, the group had allegedly purchased around 26 quintals of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) fertiliser, approximately worth Rs 3 lakh, from suppliers in Gurugram, Nuh, and nearby towns. The fertiliser, mixed with other chemicals, is commonly used to manufacture Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Around eight suspects were planning to carry out blasts in four cities and were planning to move in batches of two to each city to target them, police sources said.
The J&K police said it has “intensified action against the terror networks” in north and south Kashmir. Raids and searches in Kashmir continued against the members of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and the families of those who relatives are in Pakistan or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).
“Six individuals linked with subversive networks were brought to police stations and bound down under law in Baramulla. Twenty-two properties associated with terrorist associates were searched and 20 terrorist associates were bound down and 02 were sent to jail under preventive detention; two individuals booked under UAPA (presently on bail) were examined, one bound down under preventive law,” the police said.
The spokesman said eight bailed UAPA accused were identified for bail cancellation and two have been submitted before the competent court in the district.
Two more people, including a medical college professor and a medical student from J&K, were detained in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. The Union Government has ordered a forensic audit of all records of the Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where a number of suspects linked to the blast case studied or worked.
A medical college professor and a medical student, both from Jammu and Kashmir, were detained in UP on Thursday in connection with the Delhi car blast. The Jammu and Kashmir police issued a Red Corner Notice against another doctor from Kashmir, now believed to be based in Dubai, whose brother has already been arrested. Dozens of people have been detained in J&K raids of people and properties linked to terror networks.
Dr Farukh, an assistant professor of obstetrics at Hapur’s GS Medical College, was detained by Delhi Police from the college campus on Wednesday night. He had completed his medical education from Al-Falah University.
Official sources said Mohammad Arif Mir, a native of Khagund Qazigund in J&K and a first-year student at the Laxmipat Singhania Institute of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery of the state-run Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College in Kanpur, was also detained by the U.P. anti-terrorist squad. He is suspected of being in touch with Dr Shaheen Shahid, a former GSVM professor who worked at Al-Falah and has been arrested for “amassing explosives” over the past year.
The Delhi police, meanwhile, have complained of gaps in information shared between police teams in different States. A senior Delhi police officer said they had not been alerted about the movement of a “high profile suspect” by the J&K or Haryana police. “If we had been alerted that a suspect had gone missing from Faridabad, then we would have alerted all our checkpoints, including the toll plaza,” the officer said, pointing out that Nabi can be tracked through CCTV footage, using the same vehicle.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the punishment for the culprits of the Delhi car blast would send a message to the world that no terrorist should even dare to think of committing such an act in India. Mr Shah said the entire world has recognised India’s fight against terrorism over the past 11 years with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself at the forefront of leading this fight globally.
He stated all those who committed this cowardly act and those behind it would be brought before the law and given the strictest possible punishment. The Indian government and the Ministry of Home Affairs were fully committed to ensuring this, he said.
Kashmir’s chief cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in his Friday sermon, urged the Centre to relook its Kashmir approach. The Mirwaiz urged the authorities “to seriously relook at their approach of dealing with the people of Jammu and Kashmir only through the prism of security and law and order.” Multiple agencies continue to join the dots from Kashmir, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh amid the ongoing investigation into the Delhi car blast case.
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hamid Karra condemned the recent terror attack involving Kashmiri doctors and cautioned against linking the incident to any particular community. Mr Karra said the attack must be denounced “in the strongest words,” but warned that generalising it would be a grave mistake.
“We condemn it in the strongest words. Do not generalise it. There are good and bad people in every community,” he told reporters in Jammu. Mr Karra demanded answers from the Centre, saying the attack had exposed the government’s failure to ensure safety even in the national capital.
The Shahi Imam of Punjab, Maulana Muhammad Usman Rahmani Ludhianvi, led a protest against terrorism outside Ludhiana’s Field Ganj mosque on Friday. Addressing the gathering, he condemned the terrorist attack outside the Red Fort in Delhi and called it “shameful.” “The terrorists are traitors not only to India but also to Islam. They target innocent and unarmed people, hiding behind the name of Islam. This reveals their sinister plot against both our nation and our faith,” he said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi extended condolences to his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, over the Delhi blast. “China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism and supports countries in the region in working together to address the threat of terrorism,” Mr Wang said in a message to Mr Jaishankar sent on Wednesday.
Delhi Police has beefed up security in and around Pragati Maidan, where the India International Trade Fair began on Friday, an official said. The security has already been tightened in the national capital after the blast near Red Fort. The 14-day trade fair, scheduled to be held from November 14 to 27, is expected to draw nearly 60,000 visitors daily, prompting multi-layered checks, enhanced surveillance and traffic restrictions around the venue.
A senior police officer said additional personnel, traffic police and specialised units have been deployed across the exhibition grounds. Anti-sabotage teams, Quick Reaction Teams and dog squads are conducting routine sweeps, while CCTV monitoring has been expanded to manage high footfall, especially over the weekends. All the entry and exit points have been placed under strict access control to prevent any security lapse.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said three more people have been arrested for putting up social media posts supporting the Delhi blast, taking the tally to 20. Till Thursday, 17 arrests were made, while three more have been apprehended.
Sarma, in an X post, said, “Total of 20 anti-nationals have now been arrested by @assampolice for showing their online support for terrorists behind the #DelhiTerrorAttacks.” “More are being hunted,” he added, sharing the list of all 20 persons apprehended so far.
