A marriage, a network, and a blast: Probe maps Dr Shaheen Saeed’s path to terrorism

Dr Shaheen Saeed, 46, a former medical lecturer from Lucknow, one of the accused in the November 10 Delhi car blast case, was among eight people taken into custody in a nationwide crackdown on an inter-state network allegedly linked to the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

Shaheen Saeed got married to Muzammil Shakeel, another doctor accused in the blast case, in September 2023 and this union, according to sources, is what introduced Saeed to the world of terrorism and led her to take the path, NDTV reported.

Both the doctors have lost their licenses following the Delhi blast.

Shaheen's slow descent into terrorism

Dr Shaheen, originally from Kandhari Bazar in Lucknow's Kaiserbagh, completed her MBBS and MD from Allahabad between 1996 and 2005. She was a bright student. Saeed's father, Syed Ahmad Ansari, is a government employee.

A meritorious student, she cleared the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission examination and joined Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College in Kanpur as an assistant professor, according to a report by The Times of India.

She served as the Head of the Pharmacology Department at Kanpur Medical College from September 2012 to December 2013 before being transferred to Kannauj Medical College.

She first got married to ophthalmologist Dr Zafar Hayat in 2003, and the couple had two children. But the relationship did not last long. "Our divorce took place towards the end of 2012. I am not sure what was on her mind that led to it. There was never any dispute or quarrel between us. She was a loving and caring person. I never had any inkling that she could be involved in such activities. She was deeply attached to her family and children, loved them immensely and took care of their studies," Dr Hayat said in an interview to NDTV.

The divorce was reportedly a significant blow to Saeed, who started to feel lonely. She abruptly withdrew from the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College, where she used to teach, and stopped attending college without any notice. She subsequently remarried a man, who ran a textile business in Ghaziabad. But this marriage also did not last long.

Then entered Muzammil Shakeel, a Kashmiri doctor, and Saeed's junior at the Al-Falah University in Haryana's Faridabad. Their similar professions strengthened their bond.

During an interrogation, Shakeel revealed that the two married in September 2023 in a mosque near the Al-Falah University, NDTV reported. The two started living as a couple and it is during this time, Saeed was introduced to student groups and began participating in religious activities.

During these meetings, she was approached by members of Jamaat ul-Mominaat, the women's wing of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), who, according to the investigative agencies began training Saeed in radicalism and terrorist ideology, NDTV reported.

She subsequently began travelling between Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi-NCR and Haryana and aided in transfer of funds, using her medical identity. Then she was allegedly handed charge of the India branch of the Jamaat ul-Mominaat, which is headed by JeM founder Masood Azhar's sister Sadia Azhar in Pakistan.

In relation with the Delhi blast case, during the probe it was found that she was in charge of forming a team of five "terror doctors", people familiar with the matter were cited as saying by NDTV.

At least 15 people were killed, and many others were injured when a slow moving Hyundai i20 car, driven by a suicide bomber, Umar Mohammad, alias, Umar un Nabi, exploded near the Red Fort. Umar, a Kashmiri doctor, was also affiliated with the Al-Falah University.