The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday detained a preacher from Mewat in Haryana in connection with the "white-collar" terror module allegedly operating from a university in Faridabad, officials said. The detained cleric has been identified as Maulvi Ishtiyaq who had been staying in a rented house located within the Al Falah University complex in Faridabad. According to officials, it was from Ishtiyaq's rented residence that the police recovered more than 2,500 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate and sulphur.
The seized chemicals were believed to have been stored by Dr Muzammil Ganaie alias Musaib and Dr Umar Nabi, both key figures in the ongoing investigation. Dr Umar Nabi is the same individual who was driving the explosives-laden car that detonated outside the Red Fort on Monday evening, killing 12 people and injuring several others.
Delhi blast: Initial probe suggests 'accidental' detonation of explosives
Findings of the initial probe into the blast near the Red Fort suggest it may have been "accidentally triggered" while a hastily assembled explosive device was being transported, following the busting of an inter-state terror module, officials said. Investigators have zeroed in on a Pulwama-based doctor, Umar Nabi, who was driving the car used in the explosion, and had alleged links to the terror module busted with the recovery of explosives mainly from neighbouring Faridabad in Haryana.
Sources said that the explosion was triggered in panic and desperation after raids by the security agencies across multiple locations in Delhi-NCR and Pulwama, J-K, to nab suspects believed to be part of the terror module.
Delhi Police on high alert
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has been put on high alert and massive checking drives are being carried out across the national capital following the blast near the Red Fort. Police personnel, along with paramilitary forces, are deployed in large numbers at all the entry and exit points of Delhi, official said. Vehicles entering and leaving the city are being thoroughly checked as part of the intensified security measures, they added.
Senior police officers are personally supervising the security checks at interstate borders, including Ghazipur, Singhu, Tikri, and Badarpur. Vehicles are being checked randomly at markets, metro stations, railway terminals and bus stands to ensure that no suspicious movement goes unnoticed.
