NEW DELHI: Umar Un Nabi, confirmed by a DNA test as the bomber in Old Delhi, and his module had planned to carry out a “spectacular terror attack” with multiple vehicle-borne IEDs followed by firing with assault rifles. They had procured three vehicles – an i20, a red Ford Ecosport and a Brezza – for their mission, sources in the security establishment said on Wednesday. While the i20 exploded, cops issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) notice for the other two cars, an indication that more explosives may have been hidden by the module. The Ecosport, which has a Delhi registration number ending in 0458, was located Wednesday in Faridabad. A search is on for the Brezza. The cars were allegedly procured by Umar. The probe so far has revealed that besides Delhi, they were planning to target Ayodhya too. An attempt was to be made on Nov 25 during the hoisting of a saffron flag atop the Ram temple, said a source in a security agency. The suspects have revealed they were planning to use, and had collected, a mixture of ammonium nitrate and RDX, but it’s unclear if that was the explosive in the car. The plot was hatched in Turkiye way back in 2022. As reported by TOI on Wednesday, Umar was acting on instructions from his Turkiye-based handler, identified by his codename Ukasa. Shah directs agencies to hunt down all culprits in case A day after a car blast killed a dozen people near Red Fort, home minister Amit Shah chaired a set of meetings with the security brass and instructed agencies to hunt down every culprit behind the act. “Everyone involved in this act will face the full wrath of our agencies,” Shah posted on X after the meetings. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the home minister from Bhutan and was briefed by the latter on all aspects of the blast, including the investigation updates. President Droupadi Murmu, who is in Angola, also spoke to Shah over the phone to inquire about the blast.
The home minister on Tuesday decided to hand over the investigation into the incident to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). This points to a terror angle, though sources said it may have more to do with the Jaish terror module member linked to the blast. With Dr Umar, who had escaped the recent crackdown on the Faridabad module, suspected to be the car bomber, Shah has asked the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to match the DNA sample collected from the body found in the i20 car used for the blast with those of Dr Umar’s family members. Sources in the J&K security establishment told TOI that DNA samples collected from Dr Umar’s family members had been dispatched to Delhi. Shah has asked FSL officials to complete the exercise at the earliest. The NIA was instructed to submit a report at the earliest, detailing the preliminary findings. Tuesday’s review meetings by Shah were attended by home secretary Govind Mohan, director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, Delhi Police commissioner Satish Golcha and NIA DG Sadanand Vasant Date. DGP of Jammu and Kashmir Nalin Prabhat joined the meeting virtually. During the meetings, top officials gave detailed presentations on the situation in the aftermath of the blast, the sources said.
