Co-conspirator remanded to 10-day custody
* Phone handed over to NIA for analysis
NEW DELHI, Nov 18: Jammu and Kashmir Police have recovered a mobile phone of the Red Fort suicide bomber, Dr Umar-un-Nabi, and the extracted data has provided chilling evidence to show that he had prepared a video justifying the suicide attack as a ‘martyrdom operation’.
The critical evidence was unearthed after the detention and subsequent interrogation of Zahoor Illahi, brother of Umar who was driving the explosive-laden car that blasted outside Red Fort on November 10 killing 15 people, officials said on Tuesday.
Initially feigning ignorance, Illahi eventually cracked under sustained questioning and told his interrogators that Umar, who was in the Kashmir valley between October 26 and 29, had handed him the mobile phone with explicit instructions to “dump it in water” if any news about him surfaced, the officials said.
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Illahi subsequently led the police team to the dumping spot. Though the handset was damaged, forensic experts managed to extract the vital data, which strongly indicates Umar’s deep radicalisation through exposure to violent extremist content that included watching radical videos pertaining to suicide bombings by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda.
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Umar had also made various videos of himself talking about the suicide attack and claimed that such acts were one of the most praised acts in the religion.
The videos were shot in April this year with Umar, the 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama in Kashmir, speaking in a heavy accented voice. He described suicide bombings as “martyrdom operations” and asserted that such actions are not only permissible but are regarded as commendable within the context of jihad, they said.
A nearly two-minute-long video of Umar also made rounds on social media. It shows Umar struggling to articulate his thoughts clearly, often faltering throughout the recording, before abruptly concluding it.This video is part of a larger collection in which Umar is apparently rehearsing his statements.
The phone was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for further analysis, officials said, adding the NIA will take custody of the brother soon.
Umar is believed to have been the most radicalised and key operative in the network, which spanned Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Piecing together the evidence and statements on the car blast, the officials alleged that Umar was planning a powerful Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) blast, possibly timed around the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, targeting a crowded area or a place of religious importance.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Tuesday sent to 10 days’ NIA custody Jasir Bilal, an “active co-conspirator” of suicide bomber Umar un Nabi, in connection with the Red Fort car blast.
Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna allowed the NIA’s plea seeking custodial interrogation of the accused.
Mediapersons were barred from entering the court premises, which virtually turned the proceedings ‘in camera’.
A heavy deployment of police and the Rapid Action Force was made in the court premises. On standby were several personnel in anti-riot gear.
A resident of Qazigund in Anantnag, Wani was arrested in Srinagar on Monday for allegedly providing technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the bomb blast, the agency said in a statement.
In a statement on Monday, the NIA termed Wani an active co-conspirator behind the attack, who worked closely with the terrorist, Umar un Nabi, to plan the “terror carnage.”
On Monday, the court remanded Amir Rashid Ali, a key accused in the case, to NIA custody for 10 days.
The agency had told the court that Amir allegedly arranged a safe house and provided logistical support to Nabi. (PTI)
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