Fresh details discovered during the ongoing investigation into the 10th November Red Fort blast and the Faridabad terror module revealed that Dr Umar un Nabi, the bomber who caused the blast, fled Al Falah University, where he worked as a professor, after his colleague and terror accused Dr Muzammil Ganaie was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police on 30th October.
As per reports, Umar stayed in the Hidayat colony of the Nuh district of Haryana for 10 days until the day before the Red Fort blast. Sensing police action, Umar, who is said to have planned the terror plot with Muzammil for two years, took refuge in a rented room in Hidayat colony, with the help of Shobah Khan, a nursing staff member at Al-Falah University. Shobah Khan helped Umar find a place at his sister in law Afsana’s house, where she rented him one of her four rooms for ₹6,000, including ₹2,000 monthly rent and ₹4,000 security.
Umar never came out of the room during the day: Umar’s landlord
“He never came out of the room during the day. He had two smartphones and would step out only after dark, mostly to eat dinner from roadside eateries,” Afsana’s daughter told Hindustan Times. Notably, CCTV footage examined by Delhi Police showed Umar un Nabi at a mobile phone shop in Faridabad carrying at least two phones around eleven days before the blast.
“He seemed very serious, never spoke to anyone, and lived in the same clothes for eleven days,” she added. “He left suddenly on the night of November 9. The room was stinking and we were scared. Later, we heard about the bomb blast on TV, then the police came and took my uncle and mother for questioning. They have not returned yet,” she further said.
Umar and other doctors in the Jaish-e-Muhammad-linked terror module reportedly used a Hawala network active in the Mewat area, which is now being investigated by the agencies. Raids were conducted in Nuh, Faridabad and other places by the agencies as part of the investigation of the Hawala network. Investigating agencies reportedly also conducted searches at the accommodation of doctors and students of Al Falah University, who worked with Umar and Muzammil. The room of terror accused Dr Shaheen Shahid, who is also a doctor from the same university, was also searched by the agencies.
Eight people have been arrested by the investigating agencies after the Faridabad terror module was busted before the Red Fort blast. Umar un Nabi was also a member of the terror module. In addition to that, the authorities recovered a huge cache of arms, ammunition and around 2900 kg of explosives during the investigation of the terror module. Hours after the authorities seized the explosives, a massive blast occurred in a car near the Red Fort in Delhi, which killed 13 people and injured over two dozen.
In another unfortunate event, a blast at Srinagar’s Nowgam police station on Friday (14th November) killed 9 people and injured several after the explosives, which were recovered by the police from Faridabad on Sunday (9th November), and kept at the police station, accidentally exploded.