New Delhi: The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror module in Faridabad had been operating for over two years and the plot to carry out blasts across several Indian cities was hatched in 2023, investigators have come to know.
The “white-collar” terror module, as it is being called due to the involvement of several doctors, was stockpiling explosive material and other items right under the noses of security agencies. Faridabad is barely 55 km from New Delhi and part of the Delhi-NCR.
Muzammil Shakeel, a doctor arrested in the case, revealed during interrogation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that he had been preparing for the explosion for the past two years, NDTV has reported.
Shakeel was collecting bomb-making material, remotes, and other explosives, he confessed. He claimed that he procured 26 quintals of NPK fertilizer from Haryana’s Gurugram and Nuh. He also purchased electronic components from markets in Faridabad.
It has also come to light that Shakeel installed a machine at his rented accommodation in Faridabad and used it to process bomb-making chemicals there for months.
His colleague Muhammad Umar Nabi was the one who actually carried out the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort around 6.50 pm on November 10, killing 15 people.
A day before the blast, the police recovered 2,900 kg of explosives from Faridabad. The police also seized weapons and other items needed to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
It has also been reported that a handler of the Pakistan-based terror group JeM had shared bomb-making videos with Shakeel. The handler used the name “Hanzulla,” clearly an alias.
Posters that appeared in the Nowgam area of Srinagar had the name “Commander Hanzulla Bhai” written on them, sources told the media house. Hanzulla was apparently in touch with Shakeel through Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, a cleric from Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian.
