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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted simultaneous raids at eight locations in Kashmir and Lucknow Monday morning as part of its investigation into the blast near Red Fort in Delhi last month, officials said.
The raids focused on premises connected to those arrested from the “terror module” linked to the blast on November 10 that killed 13 people and wounded 32.
“Various digital devices and other incriminating material were seized during the searches conducted at the premises of several accused and suspects in the two states,” the NIA said. “A total of eight locations were searched in the districts of Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and Awantipora of J&K, and one location in Lucknow,” it said.
In South Kashmir, separate NIA teams raided the homes of Adeel Ahmad Rather in Kulgam and Muzamil Shakeel Ganai at Koil village of Pulwama. The two were arrested by the J-K Police in connection with the Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH) module that was busted in Faridabad last month before the blast. Muzamil was a doctor at Faridabad’s Al Falah School of Medical Sciences & Research Centre and Adeel at a private hospital in Saharanpur.
NIA investigators also searched the houses of Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay in Shopian and Jasir Bilal Wani at Qazigund in Kulgam. Both had been arrested by the J&K Police during their investigation into the AGH module and were later handed over to the NIA.
While Mufti Irfan, a cleric who led prayers at a Srinagar mosque, was allegedly the initial contact between Muzamil and the AGH, Jasir, a college student and neighbour of Adeel, is said to have been in touch with Umar Nabi, the alleged Red Fort bomber.
The NIA team also raided the home of co-accused Amir Rashid at Samboora village of Pulwama. The agency also raided a house at Chandigam village in Pulwama which, sources said, belonged to one of the relatives of Muzamil.
In Lucknow, the NIA conducted searches at the residence of Shaheen Shahid Ansari, another accused in the terror module case who also worked as a doctor at Al Falah.
The NIA team, which included a woman officer, arrived at Shaheen’s family home in Khandari Bazaar under the Qaiserbagh police station limits. At the time of the search, several family members were present, including Shaheen’s 80-year-old father, Syed Ahmed, a retired government employee, and her elder brother, Mohammad Shoaib.
“The NIA team reached the house in the morning and conducted a thorough search. They did not disclose what, if anything, was seized,” a senior UP police officer said, adding that a local police team was deployed outside the house.
Sources said the agency, which stayed for around three hours, collected a few documents and electronic gadgets and questioned the accused’s family.
According to police, the module comprised four doctors — Muzamil, Adeel, Shaheen and Umar, who was driving the car that exploded outside the Red Fort Metro station. Umar also worked at Al Falah. The police had also recovered a large quantity of explosive-making material in the case, including over 350 kg of ammonium nitrate.
Amir was picked up by the police immediately after the blast after it emerged that the car driven by Umar was in his name.
The NIA said that it has so far arrested seven accused in the case and continues to “work closely with various state police forces to track and arrest every member of the terrorist module involved in the bomb attack”.
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