Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Orders Crackdown As NIA Probes Jaish-Linked Doctor Network Behind Red Fort Blast

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday chaired review meetings into the car bomb blast near Red Fort on Monday, which claimed nine lives and left over a score of people injured. The explosion is suspected to have been caused by the same group of doctors from Al Falah Medical College in neighbouring Faridabad in Haryana.

After being briefed by senior police, intelligence and Home Ministry officials Shah declared that the agencies have been instructed to “hunt down” the culprits and that “everyone involved in this act will face the full wrath of our agencies”. On Monday too, soon after the blast, Shah had not confirmed that it was a bombing and only stated that “we have started an investigation keeping all angles open”.

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The unusual nature of the explosion as well as the coincidental seizure of nearly three tonnes of explosives seem to be dovetailing into something more than a seeming accidental explosion. While initially the Chandni Chowk investigation was being handled by the Delhi Police – which also deployed its Special Cell and Crime Branch in the probe – the matter was subsequently handed over to the National Investigation Agency. A case was registered under the more stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) after forensic examination of the site revealed use of explosives in the blast.

It is suspected that ammonium nitrate along with petrol and detonators was used to give the explosion maximum impact. The investigation into the blast revealed that the Hyundai i20 car bore a Haryana registration number (HR26CE7674) and was first bought by Mohammad Salman, who was detained from Gurugram. His questioning revealed that he sold a car to Devendra of Okhla in South Delhi who subsequently sold it to a person in Ambala, Haryana. The vehicle was then bought by one Tariq of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.

The i20 car subsequently landed with Dr. Umar Mohammad, 34, who also hails from Pulwama and was last seen driving it. He is now suspected to be the suicide bomber with links to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group. There have been suggestions the Al Falah module was cracked after it emerged that Jaish posters were being pasted in Nowgam area in Kashmir. Police also determined that a “white collar” terror ring was operating. Umar, who was a doctor at the Al Falah Medical College in Faridabad, is suspected to be a part of the group of doctors which was planning major strikes across Delhi and other places.

An MD in Medicine, he is said to have been working with Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather and Dr. Muzammil Shakil, who were held on Monday in connection with the recovery of explosives and weapons. Both are believed to have played an active role in planning the operation and transporting the explosives to Delhi, where the blast occurred. Following their arrest, Dr Umar is learnt to have panicked. As per video footage shared by the police, he had reached Sunehri Masjid parking lot near Red Fort on Monday afternoon and stayed there for nearly three hours before setting out on Subhash Marg where the blast occurred.

Among the detained doctors, Dr Adeel Rather, aged 27, from Qazigund, was arrested on November 6 from a hospital on Ambala Road in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur. Earlier, he was working temporarily as a senior resident doctor at the Government Medical College (GMC), Anantnag. He joined in 2022 and was working at GMC Anantnag until October 24, 2024. Srinagar police said Rather had links to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGUH).

CCTV footage showed Adeel pasting Jaish posters. Police raided the GMC Anantnag and found an AK-47 rifle and ammunition in Adeel's locker. The investigation also revealed a long-standing friendship and contact between Umar, Adeel, and Muzammil. Adeel and Umar completed their MBBS together from GMC Srinagar in 2017-18, and did their MD together from GMC Anantnag in 2019-20. Umar finished MBBS from Batra College in Jammu and his MD from JVC Medical College in Srinagar. All three had been practicing outside Kashmir for the last 3-4 years. Umar was engaged this year, and Adeel was married on October 4th, while Muzammil, 35, remains unmarried.

Dr Muzammil, aged 35 years, hails from Kuyal in Pulwama district. He was a doctor teaching as a general physician at Al Falah University, who was nabbed on Oct 30 by a joint team of Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana police. Around 360 kg of explosives (ammonium nitrate), an AK-47 rifle, and a large cache of ammunition were recovered from a rented accommodation in Faridabad's Dhauj village. He had rented the accommodation about three months ago. His arrest was facilitated by leads provided by Rather.

Female doctor Dr Shaheen Shahid, resident of Lal-bagh in Lucknow, was working at AlFalah Medical after having studied medicine in Allahabad. Dr Shaheen was a middle-aged woman. She was married to a man from Maharashtra, but the couple divorced in 2015. A Krinkov assault rifle was found in her car, which was allegedly being used by Muzammil. Muzammil and Shaheen had been in contact. According to intelligence sources, Dr Shaheen, who was tasked with establishing a women's wing of the terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in India. JAMAAT-UL-MOMINAT is the women's wing of JeM, whose command in India was handed over to Dr Shaheen.

The women's wing operates under the command of Saadia Azhar, sister of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, who heads its Pakistan-based unit. Saadia's husband, Yusuf Azhar, was among the masterminds of the 1999 Kandahar hijacking and reportedly died during Operation Sindoor on May 7.