A video of suicide bomber Dr Umar-un-Nabi emerges in which he justifies the terrorist act, calling it a martydom operation and not a suicide attack
A car bomb exploded near the Red Fort on November 10, killing 15 people. FILE PIC
Jammu and Kashmir Police have recovered a mobile phone of the Red Fort suicide bomber, Dr Umar-un-Nabi, and the extracted data has provided chilling evidence to show that he had prepared a video justifying the suicide attack as a ‘martyrdom operation’. Umar was driving the explosive-laden car that blasted outside Red Fort on November 10 killing 15 people.
The critical evidence was unearthed after the detention and subsequent interrogation of Zahoor Illahi, his brother, who was detained by the Jammu police, officials said on Tuesday. Initially feigning ignorance, Illahi eventually cracked under sustained questioning and told interrogators that Umar, who was in the Kashmir valley between October 26 and 29, had handed him the mobile phone with explicit instructions to “dump it in water” if any news about him surfaced, the officials said.
Delhi blast suicide bomber Dr Umar-un-Nabi. PIC/XSCREENGRAB@dranuj_k
Illahi subsequently led the police team to the dumping spot. Though the handset was damaged, forensic experts managed to extract the vital data, which strongly indicates Umar’s deep radicalisation through exposure to violent extremist content that included watching radical videos pertaining to suicide bombings by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda.
Umar had also made various videos of himself talking about the suicide attack and claimed that such acts were one of the most praised acts in the religion. The phone was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for further analysis, officials said, adding the NIA will take custody of the brother soon.
Co-conspirator in custody
A Delhi court on Tuesday sent to 10 days’ NIA custody Jasir Bilal Wani, an “active co-conspirator” of suicide bomber Umar-un-Nabi, in connection with the case. A resident of Qazigund in Anantnag, Wani was arrested in Srinagar on Monday for allegedly providing technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the bomb blast, the agency said in a statement.
Al-Falah chairman held
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of the Al-Falah group, after it conducted simultaneous searches in Delhi-NCR against the trustees and promoters of Faridabad-based Al-Falah University, which has been at the centre of the probe into the Red Fort area car blast case, officials said.
Siddiqui has been taken into custody under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is being produced before a competent court for remand, they said.
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