Delhi court grants 10 days' custody of Amir Rashid Ali to NIA in Delhi Red Fort blast case

Delhi blast

Accused in the Red Fort terror blast case, Amir Rashid Ali  who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) yesterday was brought to Delhi’s Patiala House Court earlier on Monday.

From the court premises, Ali was seen being escorted away after the NIA court granted 10 days' custody of Amir Rashid Ali in the Delhi blast case.

Ali’s appearance in Patiala House came soon after his arrest, with authorities noting that he was being taken from Patiala House Court in Delhi as part of the proceedings.

Advocate Smrati Chaturvedi, legal aid counsel Ali told PTI that he was produced today in court, and the NIA sought a 10-day remand, which was granted.

She said, "Amir told me he is the registered owner of the vehicle used in the blast."

"The NIA stated that he is an associate of the accused, and his arrest and remand are crucial for the investigation to identify all involved in the conspiracy," she said.

The NIA produced Ali before the Principal District and Sessions judge. Mediapersons were not allowed to enter the court, reported PTI.

The investigative agency on Sunday announced a major breakthrough in the case with the arrest of Ali, a Kashmiri resident accused of helping orchestrate the deadly attack that killed 13 people and injured 32 others in the heart of the national capital.

According to a press release, the agency identified the arrested man as Amir Rashid Ali, in whose name the car used in the explosion was registered. Ali was taken into custody from Delhi after the NIA launched an intensive search operation upon taking over the case from the Delhi Police.

According to the NIA’s findings, Ali, a resident of Samboora in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir, had conspired with the alleged suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi, to execute the terror plot. Investigators said Amir travelled to Delhi to help purchase the vehicle that was later rigged with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and detonated near the Red Fort on 10 November.

Forensic analysis has confirmed the identity of the deceased driver of the vehicle-borne IED as Umar Un Nabi, a resident of Pulwama district and an Assistant Professor in the General Medicine Department at Al Falah University in Faridabad.

The NIA also seized another vehicle belonging to Nabi, which is currently undergoing forensic examination. So far, the agency has examined 73 witnesses, including survivors of the blast.

The NIA said the arrest is a crucial step towards unravelling the wider network behind the bombing. Investigators are pursuing multiple leads to identify additional conspirators.

The agency is working in coordination with Delhi Police, Jammu & Kashmir Police, Haryana Police, Uttar Pradesh Police and other partner agencies as part of a multi-state probe into the attack

As security agencies continue to probe the possible links to Delhi blast, Faridabad Police on Monday continued questioning multiple Kashmiri students living on rent in the city in an effort to see whether any other possible leads and links could be found into the alleged "white collar terror module" responsible for the blast.

According to police officials, atleast 2,000 tenants and students who are living in the city have been questioned till now, with further questioning underway.

"Following the blast near the Red Fort, police have been questioning Kashmiri students and tenants living on rent in Faridabad. So far, Faridabad police have questioned over 2,000 tenants and are continuing to question them further," according to a statement from Faridabad Police as told to ANI.

Faridabad's Al-Falah university is where one of the first connections to the alleged "terror module" were revealed by authorities, with officials finding caches of arms, explosives, Ammonium Nitrate among other things.

Since the blast, investigative agencies have launched an inter-state probe to find any alleged links to the blast and the module members, with investigation ongoing in Delhi, Faridabad (Haryana), and Jammu and Kashmir.

With agency inputs