Following the arrest of several doctors in connection with the Red Fort blast in Delhi, investigating agencies are probing a possible nexus of “white-collar” terror network — a group of radicalised professionals allegedly linked to Pakistan-based terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
Authorities are examining whether these medical professionals formed part of a coordinated network, given their close professional ties and the nature of their alleged involvement in these terror activities.
The alleged Red Fort car bomber, Umar Mohammed, was a medical doctor originally from Pulwama, working at Al-Falah University in Faridabad. In the days leading up to the Delhi blast, three other doctors were arrested for allegedly possessing significant quantities of explosives and weapons.
These included Dr Adeel Majeed Rather from Qazigund, reportedly a close aide of Umar’s — both had worked at the Government Medical College, Anantnag. Adeel was arrested for putting up posters supporting Jaish-e-Mohammad in Srinagar. From Al-Falah University itself, Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganai, also from Pulwama, was arrested after 2,900 kg of ammonium nitrate was recovered from his rented accommodation. Dr Shaheen Shahid from Lucknow was detained after assault rifles and ammunition were found in her car. Shaheen’s brother, Dr Parvez Ansari, had his Lucknow residence raided as part of the sweeping operations.
What is ‘white-collar’ terror?
White-collar terror refers to terror networks that involve educated professionals, most notably doctors, who use their academic or professional status to fund, facilitate, or conceal terrorist operations.
“The investigation has revealed a white-collar terror ecosystem involving radicalised professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers operating from Pakistan and other countries,” the Jammu and Kashmir Police said in a statement.
Such professionals are often involved in logistics planning, recruitment, fund-raising, and the procurement of arms and explosives. Their legitimate professions provide them with a credible cover, allowing them to mask their activities and evade detection.
When a blast occurs, the immediate focus is often on who detonated the device and why. But these arrests highlight an emerging pattern — logistical chains running through seemingly ordinary spaces such as clinics, warehouses, and transport hubs.
ThePrint recently reported another case in Gujarat, where a doctor was arrested for allegedly possessing materials used to formulate the deadly poison ‘ricin’.
Why are doctors being recruited?
Some of the most infamous doctors involved in terrorism include Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who studied medicine at Cairo University and earned a master’s degree in general surgery. He was best known as Osama Bin Laden’s deputy and provided ideological and operational leadership to Al-Qaeda. Zawahiri was implicated in several violent acts, including the 1995 attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and was sentenced to death in absentia. He later fled Egypt and settled in Afghanistan, where he was placed on the United States most-wanted list for his role in major attacks, including the 1998 US embassy bombings and the September 11 attacks.
Another example is Dr George Habash, who graduated in medicine from the American University of Beirut in 1951. A practising physician, he went on to found the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). As per NGO Monitor, “The PFLP is involved in suicide bombings, shootings, and assassinations, among other terrorist activities targeting civilians, and was the first Palestinian organisation to hijack airplanes in the 1960s and 1970s.”
According to the NHS Employers, seven doctors and medical students—six in the United Kingdom and one in Australia—were detained by police in connection with the failed 2007 car bombings in London and Glasgow.
There are clear reasons why terrorist organisations recruit doctors. They possess advanced knowledge, employable skills, access to medical and research facilities, and wide social networks – all of which can be exploited by terror networks.
Why did this happen?
Terror networks once used to seek out engineers. But they are increasingly turning toward doctors now.
“The question is not simply what these educated individuals allegedly did. The real question is why they believed they were right to do it. Many white-collar recruits do not join terror networks because they are jobless. They join because they feel morally superior and are possibly psychologically disturbed. They believe they have seen something others refuse to see,” wrote London-based journalist Syed Zubair Ahmed in NDTV.
In order to combat this global problem, scholars argue that terrorism itself requires a better understanding, which would help formulate better policies in turn.
Iranian-born psychologist and author Fathali M Moghaddam, who teaches at Georgetown University, explained it in his paper ‘The Staircase to Terrorism’. “Critical assessment of the available evidence suggests that there is little validity in explanations of terrorism that assume a high level of psychopathology among terrorists or that terrorists come from economically deprived backgrounds or have little education. Attempts to profile terrorists and to identify demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with terrorism can yield greater benefits when incorporated within a broader conceptual account of processes leading to terrorist acts,” he wrote.
Johan Jose is a TPSJ alumnus currently interning with ThePrint.
(Edited by Prashant)