Red Fort blast: Video glorifying suicide attack found in suicide bomber's phone

Delhi blast

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'.

The critical evidence was unearthed after the detention and subsequent interrogation of Zahoor Illahi, brother of Umar who was driving the explosive-laden car that blasted outside Red Fort on November 10 killing 15 people, officials said on Tuesday.

Illahi was picked up by a special team formed by Senior Superintendent of Police (Srinagar) G V Sundeep Chakravarthy as the entire white-collar terror module conspiracy began to unravel.

Initially feigning ignorance, Illahi eventually cracked under sustained questioning and told his 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.

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 nearly two-minute-long video of Umar also made rounds on social media.

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.

Umar, the 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama, is believed to have been the most radicalised and key operative in the network, which spanned Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Piecing together the evidence and statements on the car blast, the officials alleged that Umar was planning a powerful Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) blast, possibly timed around the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, targeting a crowded area or a place of religious importance.

The inter-state network was busted following the appearance of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) posters in Bunpora, Srinagar, on October 19. The meticulous investigation by Srinagar police began with reviewing CCTV footage, leading to the arrest of three locals with prior stone-pelting cases.

Their interrogation subsequently led to the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic turned Imam, who allegedly supplied the posters and played a role in radicalising the involved doctors.

Further investigation revealed that Umar’s radical transformation began after a 2021 trip to Turkiye with co-accused Dr. Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, where they allegedly met JeM overground workers.

The two, including Ganaie who taught at Faridabad's Al Falah University, then began accumulating vast quantities of chemicals, including 360 kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and sulphur, much of it stored near the university campus.

Umar's larger plot for the December blast was foiled after the Srinagar police's investigation led to Ganaie's arrest and the seizure of the explosives. Officials believe this possibly panicked Umar, resulting in the premature blast outside Red Fort that killed 15 people.