New Delhi: Lucknow native Dr Shaheen Saeed handed over Rs 16 lakh in two tranches to her husband Muzammil Ghani, which was eventually used by members of the al-Qaeda terror module to buy pistols, sophisticated rifles and the second-hand Hyundai i20 used in the Red Fort blast, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alleged in its chargesheet.
Investigators have linked what they say is a money trail to the revival of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), the defunct terror module alleged to be behind the November 2025 blast in central Delhi which killed 15.
The agency has charged 13 accused in the Red Fort blast case, including the alleged suicide bomber, Dr Umar Un Nabi (A-1), Muzammil Ganie (A-4), Shaheen Saeed (A-6) and Bilal Naseer Malla—all faculty members of Faridabad-based Al-Falah University—besides Adeel Ahmad Rather, the Kashmir native based in Saharanpur at the time of his arrest.
According to the NIA chargesheet, a copy of which ThePrint has seen, Saeed withdrew a total of Rs 22.5 lakh on 11 March last year from her two bank accounts, including one Non-Resident External (NRE) account with ICICI Bank. The agency’s theory is that Saeed then handed over Rs 16 lakh to her husband Ganie, who was “Treasurer of the Interim AGuH,” and that this money eventually made its way to Nabi and Rather in two cash installments.
“A-1 (Nabi) and A-5 (Rather) spent a portion of this amount on the procurement of Arms and ammunition. Likewise, raw ingredients for preparing explosives, such as Acetone, Hydrogen Peroxide, NPK Fertilisers, collapsible water bags, chemicals, MMO Anode, and other items, were purchased by A-1 and A-4, with funding from А-6,” read the chargesheet.
The NIA also alleged that Ganie, who knew Saeed had earlier worked in West Asia, married her after ‘exploiting’ her “sound financial condition” and ultimately “radicalised her religious views” and convinced her to join the terror module.
Dr Shaheen Saeed: ‘Pivotal’ member of module
Relying on her former husband’s statement, the NIA has alleged that Saeed maintained an NRE bank account with ICICI Bank through which she received approximately Rs 98 lakh between July 2018 and May 2020. It adds that during investigation, “it was established that A-6 (Saeed) played a pivotal role in financially aiding AGuH Interim members”.
“Accused A-4 (Ganie) was well aware of the fact that A-6 (Saeed) had worked in the Middle East as a medical professional and had a sound financial condition. To exploit her financially, he developed a close relationship with her (A-6) and later married her in 2023. Over the next few months, he gradually radicalised her religious views and motivated her to join the AGuH Interim to fulfil the objectives of re-organising the AGuH Interim,” read the chargesheet. It goes on to say that Ganie introduced Saeed to Nabi, Rather and other members of the terror module.
According to the NIA, it found 14 instances between 12 December and 31 December, 2023, when Saeed withdrew Rs 10,000 each from ATMs in Faridabad. These withdrawals were made through her bank account with the Federal Bank. Additionally, she also made cash withdrawals to the tune of Rs 90,000 during visits to Anantnag and Srinagar in J&K.
“During this period, A-6 (Saeed), along with A-4 (Ganie), had visited A-5 (Rather’s) and A-1’s (Nabi’s) place at Anantnag to support the activities of Interim AGuH and also had visited A-7’s place at Srinagar, where she herself handled the weapons kept at A-7’s place,” the NIA alleged in the chargesheet. The term A-7 is a reference to Shopian cleric Irfan Ahmed Wagay, listed as accused number seven in the NIA chargesheet.
Further, the agency has cited another round of large cash withdrawals in the chargesheet.
From her ICICI Bank account, Saaed attempted to withdraw Rs 10 lakh in cash on 11 March, but was asked to fill out a Large Cash Transaction (LCT) form providing written reasons for the withdrawal of a large amount.
In the form, Saeed documented the reason for the fund withdrawal as her wedding—contrary to the fact that she was already married to Ganie at the time, the NIA alleged.
To avoid suspicion, Saeed allegedly split the next rounds of transactions totalling Rs 12.5 lakh into two tranches of Rs 9 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh.
“From her bank account at Federal Bank, Sec-16, Faridabad, near ICICI Bank, she withdrew Rs 3.5 Lakh via Cheque and moved to Federal Bank, Main Branch, Faridabad and withdrew Rs 9 lakh. Withdrawals via cheque were deliberately made below the threshold limit (i.e., Rs. 10 Lakhs) to avoid filing the LCT Form,” the NIA has alleged.
It is the NIA’s submission that these funds made their way to Nabi and Rather who used it to buy arms, including sophisticated rifles recovered from Rather’s locker at the Anantnag Medical College, as well as to buy raw material for explosives.
Investigators had also recovered one AK-47 from Saeed’s car.
“A huge cash amount has been seized from Al Falah Campus at the instance of A-6 (Saeed), and there is one seizure wherein, inside her locker at the research lab 409, one envelope bearing the handwriting of Ganie and containing a cash amount has been made, which sufficiently establishes the criminal conspiracy between Ganie and Saeed with respect to willful funding of terrorist activities by Saeed,” the NIA has alleged.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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