NEW DELHI: The “white-collar” terror module recently uncovered by J&K Police, in which several doctors were arrested, revealed that after being radicalized in 2016 they formed a new terror outfit called “Ansar Interim” to carry out subversive activities in the Union Territory and beyond, officials said on Sunday. The case is now being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).The inter-state terror network first came to light after JeM posters appeared on walls in Bunpora, Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar, on October 19. Srinagar police registered a case and analyzed CCTV footage, leading to the arrest of three locals — Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid — all of whom had prior stone-pelting cases, reported PTI.Their interrogation led to the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic turned Imam from Shopian, who allegedly supplied the posters and used his access to radicalise the doctors.Investigators later found that the accused doctors — Muzamil Gannie, Umer-un-Nabi (now dead), and Adeel Rather — along with his brother Muzzafar Rather (absconding), Maulvi Irfan, Qari Aamir, and Tufail Gazi had met at Eidgah in downtown Srinagar in April 2022. During this meeting, they decided to form the terror organization “Ansar Interim,” naming Adeel as the ‘Ameer’ (chief), Maulvi Irfan as ‘Deputy Ameer,’ and Gannie as treasurer.Officials noted that among militant groups, “Ansar” is commonly associated with the globally banned terror outfit Al-Qaeda.The arrested doctors and preachers told interrogators that they formed a new group after losing contact with active terrorists. Roles and operational codes were assigned, with Umer taking charge as coordinator and, along with Gannie, handling finances and procurement.In 2023, the group began acquiring materials, including fertilizer from Sohna and Nuh in Haryana. On Umer’s instructions, NPK — commonly known as Potassium Nitrate in this context — was also purchased from a chemical shop in Faridabad. During interrogation, the arrested doctors said Umer watched online videos to learn rudimentary Improvised Explosive Device (IED) construction and managed to prepare Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), a peroxide explosive used in several terrorist attacks as the filling for IEDs, as reported by PTI.Officials said Adeel began recruiting members and brought in an individual named Danish, alias Jasir, from South Kashmir. Adeel took him to a rented accommodation within Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where both saw Umer and Gannie preparing TATP explosive materials. Umer later tried to persuade Danish to carry out a ‘fidayeen’ (suicide) attack, but he backed out at the last minute, citing his poor economic condition and the belief that suicide was forbidden in Islam.Umer, a 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama, is believed to have been the most radicalized member and key operative in a network spanning Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Officials suspect he had been planning a powerful Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) blast, intending to place it in a crowded location in the national capital or at a site of religious importance and then flee.However, the plot collapsed after Srinagar police arrested Gannie and seized explosives, prompting Umer to panic and leading to the premature blast outside the Red Fort on November 10, which killed over a dozen people. Investigators also found that Umer had previously tried unsuccessfully to join terror groups in 2016 and 2018.
