New Delhi: Two prime accused in last year’s blast outside Delhi’s Red Fort had reconnoitered Vidhan Sabha, Bapu Bhavan, and Lok Bhavan—all top government buildings in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow—as part of their objectives to identify new targets for future attacks, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alleged in its chargesheet. The identification of new places to target was carried out by Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganie and his wife, Dr Shaheen Saeed, the agency submitted before a special NIA court in the Capital.
Lok Bhavan is home to the office of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. On the other hand, Bapu Bhavan houses the offices of several state government departments.
The agency also alleged that among the 13 accused in the case, the trio of slain suicide bomber Dr Umar Un Nabi, Gani and Saeed were “always in pursuit” of expanding the footprints of their terror module and identifying new recruits among students and doctors. Apart from Nabi, Dr Muzamil Shakeel and his wife Dr Shaheen Saeed, the faculty members of Al-Falah Medical College, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay, a cleric from Shopian, and Nuh resident Soyab are among those named in the chargesheet. Soyab was arrested for harbouring Nabi.
Nabi was in the explosive-laden car that exploded near Red Fort metro station on 10 November, 2025. The NIA found that the module members had recruited several new members and experimented with explosives and chemicals.
According to the agency, the module members were inspired by the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) and were aspiring to revive the now-defunct outfit.
“The investigation revealed that A-1 (Nabi) and A-4 (Ganie) were always in pursuit of indoctrinating and radicalising potential targets to strengthen their AGuH Interim group. A-1, A-4, and A-6 (Saeed) even targeted potential targets among students and fellow doctors in pursuit of the said objective,” the agency said in the chargesheet.
As part of the same objective, Ganie introduced one of his close acquaintances into their closely run Signal chat group, according to the NIA. “He (Ganie) took the assistance of the said member in spreading the base of AGuH to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, apart from Dhauj, Haryana. At Lucknow, A-4 (Ganie) and A-6 (Saeed), along with the above-mentioned person, conducted a reconnaissance of the Vidhan Sabha, Bapu Bhavan, and Lok Bhavan as potential targets for future attacks,” the agency further alleged. The agency documented that Ganie revealed the places he visited in Lucknow to enquire about the availability of raw materials.
In its probe, the agency had identified triacetone triperoxide (TATP) as the explosive used in the explosion. A highly sensitive primary explosive, TATP becomes more volatile when it is combined with other chemicals. The agency alleged that Ganie also attempted to carry out experiments to prepare TATP in Lucknow and sought to procure raw materials for it from shops.
“While in Lucknow, they also scouted for commercially available chemicals like acetone and other raw materials for preparing TАТР, and, with this objective, A-4 enquired from several chemical shops in Lucknow about the availability of hydrogen peroxide and acetone,” the agency said in the chargesheet.
This was done with the objective of establishing another AGuH Interim base in Lucknow like their base at Al Falah University in Faridabad, the agency alleged in the chargesheet.
The Delhi court has taken cognisance of the chargesheet filed under Sections 103(1) (murder), 109(1) (attempt to murder) & 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, Sections 16 & 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 that deal with offences of committing terrorist acts and the conspiracy behind them. Additionally, the agency has also invoked provisions of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, and the case has moved to the stage of arguments on charge. All the accused arrested as part of the probe are in judicial custody.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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