Arrested Doctor Recce’d Red Fort Many Times in January; 40 Samples Collected from Blast Site

PTI, NEW DELHI, NOV 12, 2025: An analysis of dump data retrieved from the mobile phone of Dr. Muzammil Ganaie, who was arrested after police busted a white-collar terror module recently, showed that he conducted multiple reconnaissance operations of the Red Fort area in January this year, officials said. Police suspect that these recce activities were part of a larger conspiracy to target the historic monument on Republic Day, but the plot was foiled due to intensified patrolling in the area at the time.

Hours after police busted the terror module with links to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, and arrested eight people, including three doctors, a high-intensity blast ripped through a slow-moving car near Delhi's Red Fort area, killing 12 people and injuring several others. According to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) that collected around 40 samples from the blast site, preliminary analysis suggested that one of the explosive samples is likely to be ammonium nitrate.

A senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that analysis of the dump data showed Dr. Muzammil's repeated presence in and around the Red Fort area in the first week of January. Along with Dr. Umar Nabi, an assistant professor at Al-Falah University who is said to have been driving the car that exploded on Monday, Dr. Muzammil visited the Red Fort multiple times to study the security arrangements and crowd density patterns. Their movements were corroborated through tower location data and CCTV footage collected from nearby areas, officials said.

"These visits were part of a detailed reconnaissance ahead of a planned attack on January 26," the officer said.

Meanwhile, the forensics team has collected around 40 samples from the blast site, including two cartridges, live ammunition, and samples of two different types of explosives. Preliminary analysis suggests that one of the explosive samples could be ammonium nitrate, officials said.