Described by his family as “quiet and studious,” 35-year-old Umar un-Nabi from Jammu and Kashmir, has emerged as a key suspect in the high-intensity blast case near Red Fort that left the national capital and the nation stunned.
A doctor by profession, Umar is believed to be the one driving the Hyundai i20 car that exploded near the Lal Quila metro station in Delhi on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring several others.
He is allegedly also tied to the massive raids in Faridabad a few days back that led to the recovery of nearly 3,000kg of ammonium nitrate. The operation, led by security agencies, unearthed a “white-collar terror network” and led to the arrest of seven people, including two doctors.
As probe into the explosion near Red Fort deepens, several big revelations on Umar un-Nabi have come to the fore:
How Umar was tied to the Faridabad raids
Umar had direct ties to two doctors linked to the terror module network busted in Faridabad before the blast near Red Fort this week.
One of those doctors was Adeel Ahmed Rather, whom Umar knew from Government Medical College (GMC), Anantnag, where both of them earlier worked as senior resident doctors.
Probe later revealed that Adeel had maintained ties with both Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), a local offshoot advocating Sharia rule. He had allegedly been using the raided Faridabad site to store explosives, along with Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie, another Kashmir-based doctor.
Muzammil and Umar also had close ties, as they belonged to the same village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama and had worked together at Al-Falah Medical College and Hospital in Faridabad.
“In Anantnag, Umar worked as a senior resident at GMC, where he met Dr Adeel. Later, in Faridabad, he and Dr Muzammil worked at Al-Falah University,” said a Delhi Police Special Cell officer. Together, the three doctors reportedly operated a terror logistics network stretching from Pulwama to NCR, linked to the JeM.
Umar tried to ‘destroy’ evidence after raids
After investigators uncovered a link between the blast near Red Fort and the terror network raids, they also found out that Umar likely “panicked” after the searches in Faridabad.
Cops also suspect that he tried to relocate or destroy evidence linked to the crackdown, and drove into Delhi with ammonium nitrate fuel oil and a detonator.
While his associates were detained in Faridabad and Jammu and Kashmir as part of the major crackdown, Umar had escaped. However, he acted “hastily” fearing cops could narrow down on him.
“Raids by security agencies across multiple locations in Delhi-NCR and Pulwama, recovery of significant quantities of explosives, are believed to have led the suspect to act hastily under mounting pressure,” an officer told HT, requesting anonymity.
‘Bomb premature, not fully developed’
The bomb allegedly used by Umar in the Red Fort explosion was “premature” as he had been acting under “panic and desperation”, the officer said.
“The explosion was caused by panic and desperation due to raids carried out by the security agencies to nab them. The bomb was premature and not fully developed, thus limiting the impact,” the officer added.
Police have established that Umar was the one driving the Hyundai i20 car that later exploded near Red Fort, further discovering that the explosives used in the bomb in this case was from the same consignment recovered by agencies in Faridabad.
“In a state of panic and desperation following the agencies’ success, he moved towards Red Fort…. However, it is certain that this event was an integral part of the same chain of incidents that led to the exposure of a major terror network and the recovery of large quantities of explosives,” an officer told HT.
Umar carried ammonium nitrate fuel oil to Delhi
Umar un-Nabi had long been panicking, as per investigators. He used five mobile numbers, all switched off after October 30. He had not been attending to his medical duties since then and even went under hiding after the November 9 raids in Faridabad led to the recovery of 2,900kg of ammonium nitrate, detonators, timers, and rifles.
“He was under pressure and knew the circle was closing in,” said a senior officer. “When the ammonium nitrate seizures became public, he fled to Delhi with ammonium nitrate fuel oil and a detonator”.
Umar seen driving same i20 earlier
A day after the high-intensity blast killed 10 near Red Fort, a CCTV footage emerged, showing Umar behind the wheels of the Hyundai i20 car minutes before the explosion.
However, that wasn’t the first time he used that car. According to an officer, Umar was seen driving the same car in a CCTV footage from Faridabad’s Sector 37, captured on October 29. “We have information that he and Muzammil had known each other for years and were planning this (the Red Fort blast) at the university,” said the officer.
