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The layers of this conspiracy started unraveling on October 18 this year after a poster campaign in Nowgam area of Srinagar.
A deadly explosion occurred near Delhi’s Red Fort metro station on Monday. (Image/PTI)
explosion So far, twelve people have died tragically in the accident that took place near the Red Fort in Delhi on Monday evening, while more than twenty-eight people have been injured. This special report reveals how a doctor inspired by Jihadi ideology carried out this blast, who is behind the conspiracy and how its strings connect across the state’s borders.
The car bomb blast in Delhi yesterday evening has once again shocked the country and highlighted the persistent threat of Pakistan-backed terrorism. The death toll in this attack has reached twelve, while the number of injured is more than twenty-five. The links of the terrorist who carried out this fidayeen (suicide) attack with the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are coming to light.
Execution: Suicide attack of Dr. Omar Mohammed
Investigations by security agencies so far have revealed that the fidayeen attack was carried out by Dr. Omar Mohammad, who was torn to pieces in the blast. Doctor Umar was driving the Hyundai i20 car used to carry out the blast. He left Faridabad in a car at 7 am on Monday, his actions were captured in the CCTV cameras installed on the way.
Police investigation revealed that the i20 car driven by Dr. Umar had entered Delhi via Badarpur toll plaza at 8:13 am. At 8:20 am the car was spotted at a petrol pump in Okhla Industrial Area. Later at 3:19 pm the car entered the parking area near the Red Fort complex.
The timing of the blast, which took place in the evening near the Red Fort, was deliberate. Firstly, the Red Fort has historical importance; Secondly, this area is extremely crowded in the evening. The Prime Minister also addresses the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August. The aim of the terrorists by carrying out the blast here was to send a very dangerous message.
Origin of explosives and conspiracy
The explosive used was ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO). This type of explosive is easy to prepare by mixing easily available urea with fuel oil. Nowadays terrorists generally avoid using RDX, as it is difficult to obtain and its origin is easy to trace.
Jammu and Kashmir Police got information about Dr. Umar from another doctor, Dr. Muzammil, who after intensive interrogation gave sensational information about a big terrorist plan hatched with his associates. Born on 24 February 1989, Dr. Omar studied medicine from Government Medical College, Srinagar, where he befriended Muzammil. After completing MBBS in 2017, both of them worked as resident doctors there. Two years ago, he moved to Al-Falah University Medical College, Faridabad, to work as a doctor.
The current investigation reveals that these terrorists associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed intended to carry out bomb blasts across the country and had made extensive preparations. However, after many of his associates, including Dr. Muzammil, were caught one after another, Dr. Omar carried out a suicide attack near the Red Fort in Delhi on Monday evening with the intention of succeeding in his deadly mission before the police arrived.
Network detection: from poster to pistol
The layers of this conspiracy started unraveling on October 18 this year after a poster campaign in Naugam area of Srinagar. On the night of the 18th, three or four posters appeared in Nowgam, threatening the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces and vowing to kill them. Such poster campaigns were frequent before the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 but had largely stopped after that.
The unusual nature of the postering without any special occasion put the Srinagar Police on high alert. Police officials consulted Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who directed the police to get to the bottom of the incident as despite the presence of the Omar Abdullah-led elected government, law and order is their direct responsibility under the rules of business.
Following Sinha’s direction, Jammu and Kashmir Police led by Srinagar SSP Sandeep Chakraborty intensified its investigation. An FIR was registered against unknown persons on 19 October. CCTV footage from Nowgam area revealed three youths pasting the posters: Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmed Dar, all residents of Nowgam.
During interrogation, it was revealed that these youths used to regularly throw stones before the removal of Article 370 and used to earn five to six hundred rupees daily. He revealed that he had been instructed by a Maulvi (cleric), who was the same person who had pasted the posters from him on October 18 at the behest of his Pakistani handler.
Police tracked the cleric to Chanpura on the outskirts of Srinagar, where he was the imam of the Ali Naqibagh mosque. The Imam, identified as Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, originally from Shopian, has a long history of involvement in terrorist activities. He not only supplied weapons to the terrorists but also sent Kashmiri youth to Pakistan for terrorist training. The same Maulvi used to regularly instigate stone pelting against security forces before 2019.
During intensive interrogation, Maulvi Irfan Ahmed gave information about Dr. Adil. The Maulvi confessed to meeting Dr Adil, a jihadist ideologue, in Anantnag, where Adil was working as a resident doctor after studying at the local medical college. The Maulvi admitted to seeing the pistol with Dr Adil and also gave information about another jihadi named Zameer.
On the basis of this, Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested Jamir Ahmed Ahangar (resident of Ganderbal) and started searching for Dr. Adil. They learned that Dr. Adil, originally from Wanpura in Kulgam district, had left Anantnag and was working in a hospital in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. With the help of UP ATS, they caught Dr. Adil. Adil had worked at Vibrosh Hospital and had recently joined another renowned hospital in Saharanpur, where he was married. Many of his Muslim colleagues from Kashmir attended his wedding.
Explosive cache and subsequent arrests
During the interrogation of Dr. Adil, J&K Police came to know 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 the locker of Anantnag Government Medical College, which was later recovered by the police.
Then the attention focused on Dr. Muzammil. Upon reaching Al-Falah University and interrogating him thoroughly, he revealed a hideout in Faridabad where he had stored a large amount of material and equipment for preparing IEDs. Based on this information, police recovered 358 kg of explosive material along with detonators and other devices from that place.
During interrogation, Dr Muzammil also confessed about his girlfriend, Dr Shaheen Saeed, a native of Lucknow, who was working as an assistant professor in the same university. Muzammil revealed that 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 female doctor had learned of her lover’s arrest and in a panic dumped the AK-47 hidden in her car at a dumping site behind Al-Falah University. Dr. Shaheen was arrested and based on his disclosure, the police recovered an AK-47 rifle from the dumping site.
During the interrogation of Dr. Muzammil, another Jihadi conspirator named Haji Ishtiaq, resident of Singar-Punhana village of Mewat, was also revealed. Ishtiaq had developed a close friendship with Dr. Muzammil and both shared jihadist ideology, which aimed to destabilize India with hundreds of bombings.
Police have arrested Haji Ishtiaq, who took a house on rent in Faridabad. When Jammu and Kashmir Police with the help of Haryana Police raided this house, they were stunned. They found 88 sacks containing a total of 2563 kg of explosive material. Ishtiaq’s hideout was also behind Al-Falah University. The cache contained ammonium nitrate, potassium, fuel oil, detonators, batteries and timers – materials capable of killing thousands of people and carrying out hundreds of terrorist attacks.
Overall, in the raids conducted at all the locations so far, Jammu and Kashmir Police has recovered two AK-series rifles, one Chinese Star pistol, one Beretta pistol and about 2900 kg of explosive material.
The final attack and its aftermath
When Dr. Adil, Dr. Muzammil and Dr. Shaheen Saeed were jointly interrogated, further sensational information about the large-scale terrorist conspiracy came to light, which confirmed that they had largely completed the preparations to destroy India at the behest of their Pakistani masters in Jaish-e-Mohammed.
It was through this interrogation that the police came to know about Dr. Umar, who had studied with Muzammil in the Government Medical College, Srinagar and was actively involved in the terrorist conspiracy. Jammu and Kashmir Police returned to Al-Falah University to arrest Dr. Omar. However, Umar had realized that many of his comrades had been caught and his arrest was certain.
In such a situation, Dr. Omar decided to carry out a suicide attack near the Red Fort – the same place from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi often talks about eliminating the enemies of the country. He used a 2014 make i20 car, registration number HR26CE7674, for the attack. The ownership of the car was traced to Ilyas Amir of Shambura village, Pulwama, near Dr Umar’s house, after several investigations. Aamir, a bank ATM guard, had given the car to his friend Tariq Ahmed Dar, who in turn gave it to Dr. Umar.
After reaching near the Red Fort at around 3 pm yesterday, Dr. Omar waited for three hours. In the evening, when the traffic and crowd at the Red Fort intersection was at its peak, it exploded, causing massive loss of life and property and Delhi once again becoming a victim of a terrorist attack.
Traditionally, it is often argued that poverty and lack of education drive Muslim youth towards jihad or terrorism. However, looking at this latest terror plot, all those involved are not only highly educated and affluent, but also employed in the humanitarian profession of medicine, the purpose of which is to save lives, not take them. Yet, inspired by jihadist ideology, they were focused on killing innocent people.
If these terrorists had not been arrested in time, how many terrorist incidents would have been carried out by these Jihadi-minded doctors, along with their associates, at the behest of their masters in Pakistan – who are dejected after the defeat in Operation Sindoor and are continuously plotting attacks in India – is unknown.
The challenge for the security agencies is not over, as it is not known how many more people with jihadi mindset are hiding. As a result, the Union Home Ministry has transferred the case to NIA (National Investigation Agency). Even before the NIA could proceed further, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has taken another doctor, Dr. Sajjad Ahmed Malla, into custody. The number of doctors who have broken their oath to serve humanity by getting involved in terrorist conspiracies is yet to be revealed.
The country expects speedy investigation and arrest of all remaining conspirators. After the entire conspiracy is exposed, preparations are underway to teach a lesson to the conspirators, because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly said from the soil of Bhutan that the people behind the conspiracy will not be spared.
A senior journalist with over 25 years of experience across television, print and digital, Brajesh Kumar Singh is Group Editor-Integration & Convergence at Network18. PhD in Communications, he is a member of Bo…read more
A senior journalist with over 25 years of experience across television, print and digital, Brajesh Kumar Singh is Group Editor-Integration & Convergence at Network18. PhD in Communications, he is a member of Bo… read more
November 11, 2025, 17:59 IST
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