Delhi blast: Kanpur medical student detained; had met Shaheen Shahid days before attack

Delhi blast

As part of the ongoing investigation into the Delhi car blast near the Red Fort, units of the Delhi Police Special Cell, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and UP ATS detained Mohammed Arif Mir, a cardiology student from Jammu and Kashmir, in Kanpur, for questioning on Thursday.

According to a report by The Times of India, Mir's detention follows the arrest or questioning of several other individuals, including Dr Muzammil Shakeel, Dr Shaheen Shahid (whom Mir reportedly met days before the blast), and a cleric named Hafeez Mohammad Ishtiaq. Mir had also visited Shaheen in Kanpur a few days before the attack.

Arif, a native of the Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir, completed his studies at Al Falah University in Faridabad and joined GSVM in Kanpur about five months ago, where he was a NEET SS 2024 batch student. He is currently being detained for questioning over his suspected links to the terror network believed to be behind the Red Fort blast in Delhi.

The Delhi Police, in collaboration with the ATS, are probing several angles of the case, including the involvement of accomplices and potential future threats. DNA testing has confirmed Umar Un Nabi as the bomber in the Old Delhi blast. He was part of a module that had planned a “major terror strike” — a coordinated attack involving multiple vehicle-borne IEDs followed by gunfire from assault rifles.

Multiple security agencies are on the lookout for a third car believed to be linked to the blast case, police sources said on Thursday.

While a white Hyundai i20 exploded near Red Fort on Monday evening, killing 13 people and injuring 30 others, investigators later traced a second vehicle -- a red Ford EcoSport -- to Faridabad.

However, a third car, suspected to be a Maruti Brezza, remains untraced. Searches are being carried out in Delhi-NCR and adjoining states to locate the Maruti Brezza, he said

As per the report, the cars were allegedly acquired by Umar. Investigations indicate that their plans extended beyond Delhi, with Ayodhya also marked as a target.

The group had allegedly planned to carry out an attack on November 25, during the hoisting of a saffron flag atop the Ram temple. The suspects revealed that they had prepared an explosive mixture of ammonium nitrate and RDX, though investigators are yet to confirm whether the same material was used in the car blast.

The plot was originally hatched in Turkey in 2022. As reported by the newspaper, Umar was acting under instructions from his Turkey-based handler, identified by the codename Ukasa.