New Delhi, Dec 9: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the “white-collar” terror module linked to the Delhi car blast, arrested one more doctor for allegedly harbouring Dr Umar-un-Nabi, the suicide bomber, and destroying evidence in the conspiracy hatched by banned Jaish-e-Mohammed group, officials said on Tuesday.
According to a statement issued by the federal agency, Dr Bilal Naseer Malla, hailing from Baramulla in north Kashmir, has been arrested. He is the eighth person to be arrested in the case.
The NIA has alleged that Bilal was involved in the “conspiracy behind the terrorist attack” that killed 15 people and injured several others in the Red Fort area on November 10.
According to NIA investigations, Bilal had knowingly harboured Dr Umar-un-Nabi, the man who was driving the explosive-laden car that blasted outside the Red Fort area.
He is also alleged to have provided him logistical support besides being involved in destruction of evidence related to the terror attack.
Bilal was produced before a designated court of Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna here who remanded him to NIA custody for seven days.
The court also extended the NIA custody of Amir Rashid Ali, another accused in the Red Fort blast case, who was produced alongside Bilal, by seven days.
The NIA said in its statement on Tuesday that its investigation into the conspiracy behind the deadly terror act continues with the help of various central and state agencies to unravel all the threads of the conspiracy.
After taking over the investigation, the NIA took the custody of seven people, including three doctors — Dr Muzzamil Ganaie, Dr Adeel Rather, and Dr Shaheena Sayeed — and a religious preacher Maulvi Irfan.
Besides, the NIA had arrested two people — Amir Rashid Ali and Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish. Ali is the one in whose name suicide bomber Umar had purchased the car that was loaded with explosives including ammonium nitrate. The same car exploded outside the Red Fort.
The “white collar” terror module was busted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police along with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and it led the investigators to Faridabad’s Al Falah University 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.
The Srinagar police decided to treat the matter as a serious issue and Senior Superintendent of Police (Srinagar) G V Sundeep Chakravarthy formed several teams to get into the depth of the case.
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 revealed name of former paramedic-turned-preacher Maulvi Irfan Ahmad from Shopian who had supplied the posters. He was later arrested.
This was the thread that led to the unravelling of the plot. It was Maulvi Irfan’s interrogation that finally led investigators to the Al Falah University and the group of Kashmiri doctors.
Dr Ganaie, a resident of Koil village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, was among the first arrested along with Dr Shaheen Sayeed in Faridabad. Later, Dr Adeel Rather was picked up from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
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