Delhi blast: Medical professionals module initiated plan linked to AQIS, says NIA

THe high-intensity gondola bomb blare close the red river fort up in Delhi on November 10 last year, in which 12 people including the bomber - Dr Umer Un Nabi - were killed, was part of ‘Operation Heavenly Hind’ plan initiated in 2022 by a group of self-radicalised medical professionals linked to Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) – an offshoot of the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Thursday as it filed a charge sheet in the explosion.This module comprising doctors, according to NIA, had also procured arms including an AK-47 rifle, a Krinkov rifle, and had experimented with rocket and drone-mounted IEDs with the objective of targeting security establishments in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India.For the Delhi blast, NIA has found, the accused persons had used the Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) explosive which was manufactured by them by “clandestinely procuring constituent ingredients and conducting experiments to perfect the explosive mixture”.The federal anti-terror probe agency filed a detailed, 7,500 page charge sheet in a special court at Patiala House courts against 10 accused, on Thursday.Also Read: NIA raids 9 locations in J&K in Red Fort car blast case“All 10 accused, including the main perpetrator, Dr Umer Un Nabi (deceased), were linked to the organisation Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) – an offshoot of the Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS),” NIA said in a statement.AQIS and all its affiliated organisations/manifestations have been notified as terrorist organisations by the ministry of home affairs in June 2018.Among those named in the charge sheet include Aamir Rashid Mir, Jasir Bilal Wani, Dr. Muzamil Shakeel, Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather, Dr Shaheen Saeed, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay, Soyab, Dr Bilal Naseer Malla and Yasir Ahmad Dar. The charges against Nabi have been abated since he died in the blast.“The charge sheet is based on extensive investigation spread across the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Delhi NCR region. It includes detailed evidence in the form of 588 oral testimonies, more than 395 documents and over 200 seized material exhibits,” the NIA said.Highlighting that it has unravelled a major Jehadi conspiracy through detailed scientific and forensic investigation, NIA said it found that “the accused, some of whom were radicalised medical professionals, to have been inspired by AQIS/AGuH ideology to carry out the deadly attack”.For this, the agency said, they had a “clandestine meeting in Srinagar in 2022”, in which they reconstituted the AGuH terror outfit as ‘AGuH Interim’ following a failed Hizrat to Afghanistan via Turkey.“Under the umbrella of the newly constituted outfit, they had launched ‘Operation Heavenly Hind’ aimed at overthrowing the democratically established Indian government and imposing Sharia rule. As part of the Operation Heavenly Hind, the accused had recruited new members, actively propagated the violent Jehadi ideology of AGuH, stockpiled arms and ammunition, and manufactured explosives on a large scale using commercially available chemicals. They had also fabricated and tested various types of IEDs,” said the agency.The federal agency further said that it established the identity of the deceased bomber Umer Un Nabi through DNA fingerprinting.Subsequently, evidence collected from the scene of the crime, as well as various locations identified by the accused in and around the Al Falah University in Faridabad as well as Jammu and Kashmir, were subjected to thorough forensic examination, voice analysis etc. As part of the investigation, it added.During interrogation and searches of the arrested persons, the agency found that not only they carried out the Delhi blast, the module was also involved in illegal procurement of prohibited arms, including an AK-47 rifle, a Krinkov rifle, and country-made pistols with live ammunition.“They had experimented with rocket and drone-mounted IEDs with the objective of targeting security establishments in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India. The accused procured laboratory equipment including specialised items like MMO Anode, electric circuits, and switches from various offline and online sources. They also had plans to expand their operations in other parts of the country, which were foiled by the busting of the terror module,” the NIA said.So far, NIA has arrested 11 persons in the case and probe is on to track absconders whose roles have surfaced.Officials who didn’t want to be named told HT that the handler of this module is another doctor from Kashmir, who operated from Afghanistan and Pakistan and was said to be in touch with Nabi around the time of blast.