The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday arrested Jasir Bilal Wani in Srinagar on, describing him as an “active co-conspirator” of suicide bomber Dr Umar un Nabi in the November 10 car blast near the Red Fort that killed 13 people.
Wani, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag and known by the alias Danish, allegedly provided technical support to the module by modifying drones and attempting to fabricate rockets ahead of the attack, the NIA said.
He was picked up by an agency team in Srinagar as investigators began probing “various angles” behind the VBIED explosion.
"The accused, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, was an active co-conspirator behind the attack and had worked closely with the terrorist, Umar un Nabi, to plan the terror carnage," the NIA statement said.
So far, eight people have been arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police in connection with the conspiracy, while NIA teams continue searches across multiple states to identify all those involved in the terror strike.
The agency also secured a 10-day custodial remand for another key accused, Amir Rashid Ali, after telling a Delhi court that he arranged a safe house and provided logistical support to the bomber.
Ali was produced before Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna at Patiala House courts amid heavy security. The proceedings were effectively held in-camera, with mediapersons barred from entering the premises.
According to the NIA’s remand application, Ali, a resident of Pampore in South Kashmir and the registered owner of the vehicle used in the blast had travelled to Delhi to facilitate the car’s purchase.
He was allegedly the last person in touch with Dr Nabi and had also arranged a safe house for him in the days leading up to the detonation.
The agency told the court that the precision and intensity of the blast were designed to generate mass panic and destabilise the nation’s sovereignty. It said Ali would be taken to Kashmir for further investigation.
The NIA has forensically confirmed the identity of the deceased driver of the “vehicle-borne IED” as Dr Umar un Nabi, a 28-year-old assistant professor of general medicine at Al Falah University in Faridabad and a Pulwama native.
Investigators say Nabi was deeply radicalised and a key figure in an interstate network spanning Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Officials earlier indicated he was planning a powerful VBIED attack around December 6, the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary.
That plot is believed to have unravelled after Srinagar Police arrested Dr Muzammil Ganaie from Al Falah University on November 10 following the seizure of a major explosive cache.
The breakthrough reportedly triggered panic within the module, culminating in the Red Fort blast later that day.
The wider network began to surface after Jaish-e-Mohammed posters appeared in Bunpora, Nowgam, on October 19. CCTV analysis led to the arrests of three local youths with past stone-pelting cases.
Their interrogation resulted in the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic-turned-Imam from Shopian accused of supplying the posters and radicalising young doctors.