NEW DELHI: Confirming that Monday’s blast near Red Fort was a terror attack, Delhi Police has filed an FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The initial intel assessment is that the blast was set off by a Jaish-e-Muhammed module wanting to avenge the damage inflicted on the Bahawalpur HQ of the outfit during Operation Sindoor. As reported by TOI on Tuesday, Umar Un Nabi, a member of the “doctor module” who had escaped during raids by J&K police, has been confirmed as the man present in the car who carried out the ‘lone wolf fidayeen attack’. The initial investigation indicates that the handlers were based in Turkiye and Nangarhar in Afghanistan. They were in touch with Umar and other members of the module. Sleuths suspect that Umar panicked after the arrest of his associate and the main accused in the Faridabad module, Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, and hit the road with the car with explosives to escape arrest. He was on the move continuously suspecting that the cops were on his trail. Some investigators believe that Umar may have tried to dispose of or hide the explosives or the car. Having failed to do so, he set off the blast. But there is largely a consensus that the blast was carried out with proper planning and the detonation may not have been accidental. “More corroborative evidence is needed to arrive at a conclusion. The probe is at an early stage,” said an officer. Though Umar has been described as the bomber who died in the attack, a DNA match will fully confirm his identity, cops said. Only an arm, supposedly his, was found near the vehicle. Sources said Tuesday that he was probably the lone occupant of the car at the time of the blast. A CCTV has captured him at one spot sitting alone in it. The official blast toll stands at nine. There are two-three body parts which have not been linked yet and a DNA analysis will establish if they were of different people. In that case, the toll may reach 12.
‘Blast was carried out in panic by Jaish member’
The Delhi blast was carried out in panic and desperation by a member of a Jaish module after raids by alert security agencies successfully busted its hideouts and bases across J&K, Haryana and UP, according to sources in the security establishment. “Raids by security agencies across multiple locations in Delhi-NCR and Pulwama, which led to the recovery of nearly 3,000kg of explosives, are believed to have forced the suspect to act hastily under mounting pressure,” a senior officer of the central security establishment told TOI. Sources said the haste was confirmed by the fact that the bomb used for the blast was loosely assembled and not fully developed, thus limiting the impact. The explosion did not create a crater and no shrapnel or projectiles were found. “Dr Umar, a member of the module, changed his location from Al Falah Medical College campus following the crackdown on other members of his module. He is the one who was driving the car used in the blast, as corroborated by CCTV footage. The blast was caused by the very same explosives that were found in Faridabad hideouts,” said an officer. “Whether this blast was premeditated or accidental is a matter of investigation,” the officer added. Sources said a few factors, however, pointed to an unintended explosion, including the fact that the vehicle was moving amid traffic and was not driven into a crowd, a common strategy used in vehicle-borne IED attacks to maximise casualty. The possibility of the explosives getting activated while being transported from point A to B is also not being ruled out. While describing the loss of deaths as tragic, officials said a major strike could not be carried out because of the alertness shown by cops in taking cognisance of the Jaish posters in J&K and the subsequent efforts of intelligence and police forces. The officer said demolition of the Jaish module responsible for the Delhi blast displayed the country’s alertness levels against terror. “This is a success of our intelligence agencies, security apparatus and law enforcement officers,” the officer added. As reported by TOI on Monday, the origins of the Jaish module case investigation lay in a few objectionable posters that had come up in Srinagar. An FIR was registered in the case on Oct 19.
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