Red Fort blast: NIA takes custody of three doctors, preacher

New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday took custody of three doctors and a preacher who were arrested in connection with the November 10 car blast outside the Red Fort in which 15 people were killed.

Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather and Shaheena Saeed as well as Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay had earlier been arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police. The anti-terror probe agency took them into custody in Srinagar following production orders from the district sessions judge at the Patiala House court here, according to a statement from an NIA spokesperson.

"They had all played a key role in the terror attack that killed several innocent persons and left many others injured, as per NIA investigations," the spokesperson said.

With their custody shifting to the NIA, which formally took over the case on November 11, the number of people booked in connection with a 'white collar' terror plot has gone up to six.

The NIA has already arrested two people -- Amir Rashid Ali and Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish.

Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the explosives-laden i20 that detonated outside the Red Fort, had allegedly bought the car in Ali's name. Wani was arrested after it emerged that Umar had been trying to "brainwash" him to becoming a suicide bomber, officials said. He was not persuaded but is alleged to have agreed to participate as an overground worker for the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

PTI had earlier reported that the sophisticated terror module spearheaded by a group of doctors had been actively scouting for a suicide bomber since last year with Umar being the alleged key planner.

Officials said Adeel's interrogation pointed to Umar being a "hardcore radical" who insisted that a suicide bomber was essential for their operations. It was after that that Srinagar police sent a team to Qazigund in south Kashmir and detained Wani.

Wani admitted during his questioning that he had met the "doctor module" in October last year at a mosque in Kulgam, Kashmir, the officials said.

In April this year, Wani backed out of the plan to become a suicide bomber, citing his poor economic condition and the belief that suicide was forbidden in Islam, they said.

Those arrested are alleged to be at the centre of the terror module busted by Jammu and Kashmir police along with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Investigations led to the Al Falah university in Faridabad where 2,900 kg of explosives was recovered.

It all started on the intervening night of October 18-19, when posters of the banned JeM surfaced on walls just outside Srinagar city. The posters warned of attacks on police and security forces in the Valley.

Three people -- Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid -- were arrested after CCTV footage showed them pasting the posters.

During interrogation, they named former paramedic turned preacher Maulvi Irfanas the one who had supplied the posters. He was arrested.

This was the thread that led to the unravelling of the plot. It was his interrogation that finally led investigators to Al Falah university and the group of Kashmiri doctors.

The first person to be arrested was Ganaie from Faridabad. Then Saeed too from the town. Later, Adeel Rather was picked up from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. PTI SKL MIN SKL MIN MIN