Drone bombs, rockets and ‘shoe bomber’: NIA unmasks JeM's Hamas-like terror plot after Delhi blast

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested another Kashmiri suspect in the Red Fort suicide car bombing case, and said the terror module had been preparing to carry out Hamas-style attacks using drones fitted with small, powerful bombs.

The agency also found that the group was attempting to build small rockets intended for serial blasts, ToI reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

The arrested suspect has been identified as Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag, Jammu & Kashmir. He was detained earlier and was formally arrested in Srinagar by an NIA team probing the attack. Calling him a close associate of the suicide bomber Umar, the agency said it has uncovered his role in developing the module’s weapon systems.

In its statement, the agency said: "NIA's investigation has revealed that Wani had provided technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the deadly car bomb blast."

According to investigators, the drones were being customised with cameras, batteries and small explosive payloads designed to be detonated at crowded locations.

Sources known to ToI said the module aimed to replicate the tactics used by Hamas and Islamic State in conflict zones such as Syria, Iraq, Israel and Afghanistan — a plan that was disrupted after the module was busted.

Link to 2021 Jammu drone attack examined

Officials noted that this plot mirrors earlier cross-border drone strikes, including the 2021 attack on the Jammu air force station, when Pakistan-based terrorists used two low-flying drones to drop improvised explosive devices — the first such strike in India.

Wani, officials said, was an “active co-conspirator” who worked closely with Umar un Nabi to plan the attack. A senior NIA officer said: "Several teams of the anti-terror agency are pursuing multiple leads, and are conducting searches across states to identify every person involved in the attack. NIA continues to explore various angles to unravel the conspiracy behind the bombing."

Wani, a political science graduate, reportedly met members of the “doctor module” last October at a mosque in Kulgam. During interrogation, he is said to have disclosed that Umar asked him to come to his rented accommodation near Al Falah University in Faridabad to participate in the planned terror strike.

On Sunday, the NIA had arrested Amir Rashid Ali, a Pampore resident in whose name the i20 car used in the blast was registered. He was picked up from Delhi.

Investigators probe possible ‘shoe bomber’ role

Parallel to the drone-bomb line of investigation, NIA teams are examining whether Umar un Nabi operated as a “shoe bomber”, following a key recovery from the blast site — a shoe found beneath the driver’s seat, near the right front tyre of the i20 car.

Investigators say the find resembles the December 2001 Richard Reid case, when Reid attempted to detonate a TATP (triacetone triperoxide) explosive concealed in his shoes on an American Airlines flight.

Forensic teams discovered a metallic substance inside the recovered shoe, now being analysed to determine if it served as a trigger for the explosive. Sources said traces of TATP were recovered from both the tyre and the shoe at the blast site.

Officials have also found traces of explosives under the rear seat of the car, indicating that multiple explosive components may have been rigged into the attack plan.