Red Fort blast: NIA arrests suicide bomber's second aide who is accused of modifying drones, trying to make rockets

New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) The NIA has arrested a second close aide of "suicide bomber" Dr Umar Nabi in the Red Fort Area car blast case with the man from Kashmir being accused of allegedly providing technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets.

While the aide Jasir Bilal Wani, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag, was described by the National Investigation Agency(NIA) on Monday as an "active co-conspirator" of Nabi, the anti-terror agency told a Delhi court that another key accused Amir Rashid Ali allegedly arranged a safe house and provided logistical support to the bomber.

The NIA on Sunday announced the arrest of Ali in whose name the explosive-laden i20 involved in the blast was registered. Ali, also a resident of Kashmir, was arrested from Delhi in the first arrest by the NIA in the blast case after the probe was handed over to the agency last week. The NIA has described Nabi as a "suicide bomber".

The court allowed the NIA’s plea seeking custodial interrogation of the accused for 10 days.

The death toll in the November 10 car blast near the Red Fort, meanwhile, rose to 15 after two more injured persons succumbed to their injuries at the LNJP Hospital here, an official said.

As the NIA explored "various angles" to unravel the conspiracy behind the 10/11 bombing, Union Home Minister Amit Shah vowed to track down those responsible and asserted that the culprits would be found even from the depths of 'Patal' (netherworld) and face the strictest possible punishment.

Addressing the 32nd meeting of the Northern Zonal Council (NZC) in Faridabad, Shah said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, eliminating terrorism from its roots is the collective commitment of the government.

Wani allegedly provided technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the deadly car bomb blast, the NIA said in a statement.

Wani, who also goes by the alias of Danish, was arrested from Srinagar by an NIA team, it said.

"The accused, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag district of J&K, was an active co-conspirator behind the attack and had worked closely with the terrorist, Umar un Nabi, to plan the terror carnage," it said. Nabi, a 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama, drove the car that detonated on the ill-fated day.

"Several teams of the anti-terror agency are pursuing multiple leads, and are conducting searches across states to identify every person involved in the terror attack." Jasir alias 'Danish', a bachelor in political sciences, was intensely brainwashed by Nabi for several months to become a suicide bomber, it was stated.

He had agreed to meet the 'Doctor module' in October last year at a mosque in Kulgam in Kashmir from where he was taken to a rented accommodation at the Al Falah University in Faridabad in Haryana.

Wani, who was earlier detained by Jammu and Kashmir, had told during his questioning that while others in the module wanted him to be an over-ground worker (OGW) for the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM), Nabi brainwashed him for several months to become a suicide bomber.

The plan, however, collapsed in April this year after the man backed out, citing his poor economic condition and the belief that suicide was forbidden in Islam.

The suicide bomber scouting plot adds a dangerous new dimension to the investigation into the inter-state terror network linked to the JeM.

Ali, a resident of Pampore in South Kashmir, was brought to the court of Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna at the Patiala House courts complex amid tight security.

Mediapersons were barred from entering the court premises, which virtually turned the proceedings 'in-camera'.

According to NIA's remand paper, Ali's custodial interrogation was required to uncover the entire conspiracy. It said that Ali allegedly provided logistical support to Nabi. The remand paper also claimed that he had arranged a safe house for Nabi in the days leading up to the blast.

The agency said that the blast’s precision and intensity had been deliberately designed to instil fear in the minds of the public, besides causing alarm and panic.

Underscoring the seriousness of the alleged plot, it said that the act was intended to threaten and destabilise the nation’s sovereignty and unity.

The agency also told the court that Ali would be taken to Kashmir for further investigation.

A heavy deployment of Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) was seen outside the court premises, besides personnel equipped with anti-riot gear on standby to maintain order.

Ali was likely the last person to have been in contact with Nabi.

The remand comes a day after the NIA announced Ali's arrest for allegedly conspiring with Nabi to execute the terror attack.

The NIA investigation showed that the vehicle used in the blast was registered in the name of Ali, who had travelled to Delhi specifically to facilitate the purchase of the car.

The vehicle was subsequently used as a "Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED)" to carry out the attack. Nabi had known links with a "white-collar" terror module that was recently busted following the recovery of explosives, primarily from Faridabad in Haryana on November 10.

As reported by PTI earlier, Nabi, a 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama, emerged as the most radicalised and key operative in the network spanning Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, issued two summons to Al Falah University chairman in connection with the ongoing probe into the Faridabad terror module case and the two cases registered against the university for forgery and cheating, an official said. PTI ABS MNR SSJ SKL RT BM GSN GSN GSN