New Delhi: The doctors-led Faridabad terror module which the Jammu and Kashmir Police busted on 10 November was in the phase 2 of their operations in which they were collecting raw materials for making bombs, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the security establishment told ThePrint that the next phase would have been to assemble these bombs using nearly 3,000 kg of ammonium nitrate along with other materials. They were supposed to be distributed in batches and handed over to those who would have carried out actual bombings.
The final plan was to carry out a series of bomb blasts in the national capital but the security agencies have still not been able to glean from the arrested terrorists what those exact locations would have been.
It is learnt that there could be a possibility that the final targets were not shared by the actual masterminds of this operation who remain at large. The sources said that during interrogation, it has been learnt that the original timeline they had in mind was August, but the plan got delayed because sourcing of raw materials took time.
The timeline was then shifted to December, it is learnt.
Speaking about the seizure of nearly 3,000 kg of ammonium nitrate along with other material which was to be used in making of the the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), the sources said that 358 kg was seized from the residence of Dr Muzzammil from Al-Falah Medical College, Faridabad.
The sources said that same day, the police carried out raid at the house of Hafeez Mohammad Ishtiyaq, a resident of Mewat and Imam of the Al-Falah Mosque, located in Dhera Colony, Faridabad, where a massive consignment of explosives (weighing 2,563 kg) was seized.
In total, about 3,000 kg of explosives and bomb-making equipment were recovered from this module.
Also Read: Home ministry hands over Delhi blast probe to NIA, hours after Amit Shah chairs review meet
The arrests
The sources said that Ishtiyaq is being pursued by the police and would be arrested soon. They also said that while the main elements of the module have been arrested, more arrests will take place which would include those who were part of the terror ring including some professors and academicians.
As reported by ThePrint earlier, it was a chance discovery of this terror module through dogged investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police who were tracking down individuals behind pasting of posters praising the JeM and vowing retaliation for killings in Operation Sindoor when their headquarters were targeted by the Indian Air Force.
Following the registration of FIR on 19 October by the Nowgam Police in Srinagar in connection with the posters, they first arrested three Over ground Workers who put up the posters.
Based on their questioning, Maulvi Irfan Ahmad Waghe was arrested from Shopian and Zameer Ahmad from Wakura, Ganderbal between 20 and 27 October.
On 5 November, Dr Adil Ahmed Rather, who hails from Kulgam but has of late been working at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, was apprehended. On 7 November, an AK-56 rifle and other ammunition were seized from his locker at Anantnag Hospital.
More recoveries of guns, pistols, and explosives were made on 8 November from Al-Falah Medical College. During interrogation, information surfaced about other individuals involved in this module, leading to the arrest of Dr Muzzammil from Al-Falah Medical College, Faridabad. He is originally from Pulwama in Kashmir.
Based on these leads, several more arrests were made and a large cache of arms and explosives was recovered.
On 9 November, a person known as Madarasi, a resident of Dhauj, Faridabad, was arrested from his house.
The main seizure of the explosives happened the next day.
One of the members of the group, Dr Umar U. Nabi, who was working at Al-Falah Medical College, managed to escape after the agencies intensified their crackdown.
The car involved in the Red Fort explosion was being driven by Dr Umar, as indicated by CCTV footage. The material that caused the explosion was the same type of explosive stockpiled in Faridabad, where about 3,000 kg of such substance was recovered. Whether the explosion was pre-planned or accidental will be determined during further investigation, government sources said.
As reported earlier, agencies believe that the spot at which the blast took place was not the intended spot.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: DNA test confirms Umar Un Nabi drove explosive-laden car that blew up outside Red Fort Metro station