The investigation into the deadly blast outside the Red Fort in New Delhi on November 10 has deepened in the days since an explosives-laden car exploded, killing 13 people and injuring several others.
Investigating agencies, including the Delhi Police Special Cell and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), to whom the probe was transferred, are painstakingly piecing together evidence to connect the dots as a murky “white collar” terror module gets unearthed.
In their latest bid to put the sequence of events in order, investigators are zeroing in on all the vehicles plying in the area of the blast on the day, especially those that entered the nearby parking place where the explosives-laden car had been stationed for three hours, officials revealed on Saturday.
Besides tracking down the registration numbers of these vehicles, cops are also questioning their drivers and owners on whether they noticed the Haryana-registered Hyundai i20 being driven by one, Dr. Umar Nabi, before it exploded.
“Every driver who was present there around that time is being traced to determine whether they saw the HR-26 car, how many people were inside it, and whether anyone else was accompanying Umar,” a source said, adding that investigators are also trying to determine whether Nabi was alone in the car or if anyone else had entered and exited the vehicle during the three hours that he was parked in the area.
Officials are also trying to verify whether the explosive device was planted inside the car at the parking lot.
Also Read: Blast in J&K police station leaves 9 dead, 27 injured
While the Delhi Police Special Cell registered a separate FIR in the case under sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy to probe the conspiracy behind the blast, an earlier FIR under sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was transferred to the NIA.
Curiously, many members of the medical fraternity have been arrested, detained or are being questioned in the case as links emerge with another of the accused, Dr. Muzammil Ganaie, who worked at the Al-Falah University in Haryana’s Faridabad district, which is now under scanner.
According to official sources, as many as 15 doctors associated with the Al-Falah University, who were known to be in touch with Dr. Muzammil are currently untraceable.
“Call detail records showed multiple conversations between Dr. Muzammil and several doctors. When the agencies attempted to contact them, their phones were found switched off. A team sent to Al-Falah University for questioning discovered most of them missing,” a source said.
Investigators are now attempting to determine whether these missing individuals have any role in the planning or logistics of the alleged terror plot.
Before the explosion on November 10, agencies had busted a “white collar terror module” spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and seized 2,900 kilograms of explosives. They had also arrested eight people, including three doctors in connection with the module. Hours later, a high-intensity explosion ripped through a slow-moving car near Delhi’s Red Fort metro station.
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