New Delhi: The terror module that carried out the blast outside the Red Fort in November last year was formed as part of an operation codenamed ‘Operation Heavenly Hind,’ the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found.
An NIA spokesperson said Thursday that module members, including radicalised medical professionals, met over a secret meeting and launched the module with the aim of “overthrowing the democratically established government and imposing Sharia rule across the country”.
The module members were inspired by the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) and were aspiring to revive the now-defunct outfit, the NIA spokesperson added.
The AGuH is considered as an Indian offshoot of the terror outfit al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, which itself is an offshoot of al-Qaeda in South Asia.
“At a clandestine meeting in Srinagar in 2022, the accused had reconstituted the AGuH terror outfit as ‘AGuH Interim’ following a failed ‘Hijrat’ (migration) to Afghanistan via Turkey,” the NIA spokesperson said.
These details are part of the NIA’s 7,500-page charge sheet in the Red Fort blast case. Apart from charging 10 accused, the anti-terrorism agency has sought abatement of proceedings against accused Dr Umar un Nabi.
Nabi was in the explosive-laden car that blew off near the Red Fort metro station on 10 November 2025. His identification was carried out by the Delhi Police Special Cell, which initially probed the case before the probe was transferred to the NIA.
The NIA probe revealed that the module members had recruited several new members and experimented with explosives and chemicals. As part of their trial to manufacture explosives, the module members experimented with Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) to perfect the explosive mixture.
TATP was used for the blast that killed 15 people and injured several others. A highly sensitive primary explosive, TATP becomes more volatile when it is combined with other chemicals.
The module members had also experimented with rocket and drone-mounted IEDs and had planned targeting security establishments in J&K and other parts of India.
“It was also revealed during the investigation that the accused procured laboratory equipment, including specialised items like MMO Anode, electric circuits, and switches from various offline and online sources,” the NIA spokesperson said.
All 10 accused have been charged under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Explosive Substances Act, the Arms Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Apart from Nabi, Dr Muzamil Shakeel and his wife Dr Shaheen Saeed, the faculty members of Al-Falah Medical College, Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay, a cleric from Shopian, and Nuh resident Soyab are among those named in the charge sheet. Soyab was arrested for harbouring Nabi.
“The charge sheet is based on extensive investigation spread across Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Delhi NCR. It includes detailed evidence in the form of 588 oral testimonies, more than 395 documents and over 200 seized material exhibits,” the NIA spokesperson said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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