Delhi blast probe: NIA arrests 9th accused, a close associate of Umar-un-Nabi; suspect took 'sacrificial oath'

Delhi blast

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has apprehended a ninth individual in connection with the devastating car bomb explosion near Delhi’s historic Red Fort on November 10, which officials confirm killed 13 people and injured several others.

The latest arrest, announced by the federal anti-terror agency on Thursday, is of Yasir Ahmad Dar, a resident of Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir. Dar was taken into custody in Delhi and has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

According to an NIA statement, Dar is accused of being “an active participant in the conspiracy” behind the blast. The agency alleges he took an oath for “carrying out self-sacrificial operations” and was in “close contact” with other accused, including the deceased perpetrator, Umar Un Nabi, who is believed to have been driving the vehicle at the time of detonation and another key conspirator, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay.

The Union government had classified the explosion as a “terrorist incident” two days after it occurred.

The arrest of Dar marks a continued expansion of the NIA’s probe into what it describes as a “white-collar terror module.” The investigation has seen a series of apprehensions across multiple states since the attack, beginning with the first arrest of alleged aide Amir Rashid Ali on November 16. The NIA stated the Hyundai i20 used in the attack was registered in Ali’s name.

Subsequent arrests followed in quick succession. Jasir Bilal Wani was detained in Srinagar on November 17. This was followed by the arrests of four more individuals — Muzammil Shakeel Ganai, Adeel Ahmed Rather, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay and Shaheen Saeed — on November 20.

A seventh suspect, Soyab from Faridabad, was held on November 26 and an eighth, Bilal Naseer Malla from Baramulla, was arrested on December 9. Malla and Soyab are accused of harbouring Nabi, providing logistical support and destroying evidence related to the attack.

As part of its intensified investigation, the NIA conducted widespread searches earlier this month at premises linked to accused persons and suspects in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. The agency reported seizing various digital devices and “incriminating material.”

These followed earlier searches at locations including the Al Falah University premises of prime accused Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai and Dr Shaheen Saeed, as well as other sites in Faridabad, Haryana.