Delhi: NIA arrests suicide bomber's aide in Red Fort car blast

The National Investigation Agency made its first major arrest in the Red Fort car-explosion probe on Sunday, taking into custody a Kashmiri man alleged to have helped orchestrate the Red Fort blast in Delhi that killed 12 people and wounded dozens more.

Investigators said the accused, Amir Rashid Ali, was detained in Delhi after they traced the ownership of the explosive-laden vehicle to him. Officials believe Amir travelled from Samboora in Pampore to the capital weeks before the attack to assist in acquiring the car that was later turned into a bomb.

"Amir had come to Delhi to facilitate the purchase of the car which was eventually used as a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to trigger the blast. NIA has forensically established the identity of the deceased driver of the Vehicle Borne IED as Umar Un Nabi, a resident of Pulwama District and Assistant Professor in General Medicine Department in Al Falah University at Faridabad," read the press release from the central probe agency.


In addition to the arrest, a second vehicle linked to Nabi has been seized and is being scrutinised for clues.

As part of the ongoing inquiry, the NIA has spoken to more than 70 witnesses, among them several of those injured in the November 10 explosion.

The investigation spans multiple states, with teams from Delhi Police, J&K Police, Haryana Police, UP Police and other agencies sharing intelligence.

Earlier this week, security agencies had arrested eight other individuals, including three doctors, and seized about 2,900 kg of explosive material, in what officials described as the busting of a “white collar” terror module linked to the proscribed outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH).

Those arrested prior to Amir include Dr Muzammil Ganaie from Faridabad and Dr Shaheen from Lucknow, who was flown to Srinagar for interrogation.