New Delhi: Umar Un Nabi, the alleged Red Fort bomber, and his associate Muzammil Shakeel had not just visited Turkey but also Nepal, the UAE and Saudi Arabia since 2021, ThePrint has learnt.
The duo along with two other doctors Adeel Ahmed Rather and Shaheen Shahid were getting instructions via two online accounts with codenames, Dr Ukasha and Dr Hashim alias Arif Nisar, according to sources aware of the Delhi blast probe details.
“They used multiple apps from Telegram to Signal, to remain in touch. Hashim is suspected to be a Pakistan-based handler, who also uses the name ‘Arif Nisar’. It could also be that Ukasha and Nisar are the same. These are code names,” a source told ThePrint.
Nabi, who drove the explosive-laden i20 that exploded near Red Fort Metro gate 1 on Monday evening, had switched off his phone making it difficult for the police forces of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana to trace him, the sources said.
He, they added, was panicky and alarmed ever since Shakeel’s arrest on 31 October, followed by Rather’s on 6 November.
The police raids had started from 8 November till 10 November. About 2,900 kg of explosive-making materials were recovered from Shakeel’s two rented accommodations in Faridabad. ThePrint had reported Wednesday that that over 2,000 kg of the cache was ammonium nitrate, procured from fertiliser shops across Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Ammonium nitrate fuel oil was used in Monday’s terror attack.
Arms were found in a car registered in Shahid’s name in Lucknow as well as from Rather’s locker in Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag where he and Nabi had worked as resident doctors. Investigators suspect that these arms came via road from Kashmir.
“Investigators have checked the phones of the accused. An old phone of Nabi revealed that there were other cars in their names,” another source told ThePrint.
Also Read: DNA test confirms Umar Un Nabi drove explosive-laden car that blew up outside Red Fort Metro station
Tracing Nabi’s route
While it is confirmed that Nabi left Faridabad on the morning of 10 November and entered Delhi, investigators haven’t been able to pinpoint on his exact locations, barring that he was initially near the Al Falah university campus area where he, Shahid and Shakeel worked. The white i20 was also parked there from the date of purchase—29 October—to 10 November.
It remains unclear if Nabi transferred the explosives to the car on the morning of 10 November, or between 8 and 10 November during the raids, or even before.
The investigators are now trying to piece together how Nabi managed to evade arrest. “The J&K Police had shared all inputs with the Faridabad Police. He is suspected to have been hiding in some other hostel since the initial round of arrests,” another source said.
Meanwhile, a third car—a Brezza registered in the name of Shahid—was found in the Al-Falah university campus Thursday noon. The registration date is from September. On Wednesday, an EcoSport SUV, registered from 2017 in Nabi’s name, was found in a Haryana farmhouse. The sources said that this SUV used to travel from Kashmir to Faridabad and that it was likely used to bring arms from the Kashmir Valley to Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).
This module planned to carry out serial blasts across Delhi and other states and are linked to terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, the sources said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)