Terror-accused doctor Shaheen had 'strange behavior' at work, says colleague

Red Fort blast

A key suspect in the Delhi Red Fort blast case, Dr Shaheen Saeed, had a 'strange behavior' at her job at the Al-Falah School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Faridabad, according to her colleague, according to a report by NDTV.

She did not adhere to the institution's rules and would often leave without informing anyone. According to her colleague, Saeed spoke darkly of her 'work' starting only after 4 pm every day.

Saeed also carried a rosary (known in Islam as misbaha or tasbih) and a hadith book (a collection of Prophet Muhammad's teachings), officials familiar with the investigation said, NDTV reported.

A resident of Lucknow's Lal Bagh, Saeed was arrested on Monday, hours before a panicked fourth member of the terror cell - DNA tests identified him as Umar Mohammad - drove and detonated a Hyundai i20 stuffed with explosives near the Red Fort, killing himself and 12 others.

Two other suspects - Dr Mujammil Shakeel and Dr Adil Ahmad Rather - were arrested before Saeed, underlining a worrying 'white-collar terrorist' angle to the probe.

The investigation so far suggests the terrorists had a frightening plan for a series of bomb blasts across the national capital region and other parts of the country. As many as 32 cars were part of that plan, sources said, although it is unclear if all 32 were meant to deliver bombs, according to a report by NDTV.

The cars - including the Hyundai i20 that exploded Monday evening - were meant to be part of a serial 'revenge' attack targeting multiple locations, including six in Delhi on December 6 - when the 16th century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was torn down by a mob.

13 people were killed in the Red Fort blast, which involved the i20, packed with a mix of high-grade explosive materials and ammonium nitrate fuel oil. Preliminary inquiries, however, suggest that blast was triggered prematurely by one of the terrorists, Umar Mohammed.

Officials part of the investigation said DNA tests have confirmed he died in the blast.

Mohammed, alias Umar un-Nabi, may have panicked after the arrests of his accomplices, Adil Ahmad Rather, Mujammil Shakeel, and Shaheen Saeed, who drove the Brezza, and the discovery of nearly 3,000 kg of explosive materials and assault rifles that had been stockpiled by the terrorists at the Al-Falah Hospital in Faridabad and the Government Medical College in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag.