Red Fort blast: NIA takes custody of 3 doctors, religious preacher

PTI, NEW DELHI, NOV 20, 2025 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday took custody of three doctors and a preacher who were arrested in connection with the November 10 car blast outside the Red Fort, in which 15 people were killed, officials said.

Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather, Shaheena Saeed, and Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay had been arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police following the blast. "They had all played a key role in the terror attack that killed several innocent persons and left many others injured," an NIA spokesperson said. With their custody shifting to the NIA, which formally took over the case on November 11, the number of people booked by the federal agency has risen to six. The NIA had already arrested two individuals – Amir Rashid Ali and Jasir Bilal Wani, alias Danish.

Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the explosives-laden I20 that detonated, had allegedly bought the car in Ali's name. Wani was arrested after it emerged that Umar had been trying to convince him to become a suicide bomber. He was not persuaded but is alleged to have agreed to participate as an overground worker for the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Those arrested are believed to be at the centre of a 'white-collar' terror module busted by Jammu and Kashmir police, along with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Investigations led to the Al Falah University in Faridabad, where 2,900 kg of explosives were recovered.

The series of events began on the intervening night of October 18-19, when posters of the banned JeM surfaced on walls just outside Srinagar city. The posters warned of attacks on police and security forces in the Valley.