A DNA test has confirmed that Dr. Umar Un Nabi, a doctor from Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, was the man who drove the car that exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10, killing 12 people and injuring several others.
Forensic experts matched the DNA samples collected from Umar’s family in Kashmir with the remains recovered from the blast site, confirming his identity. The explosion, caused by high-intensity explosives in a white Hyundai i20, ripped through a crowded street outside the historic monument, triggering panic in Old Delhi.
Investigators say Umar was part of a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)-linked terror network operating across Faridabad, Lucknow, and South Kashmir, which included multiple doctors using fake identities to procure chemicals and materials for explosives.
Among those detained in the wider probe are Dr. Shaheen Shahid, a former lecturer accused of helping form JeM’s women’s wing, and two others — Dr. Muzammil Ganaie and Ajamul Malik. Police also arrested cleric Maulvi Irfan, suspected of radicalising the group.
Sources revealed that Umar and Ganaie had recently travelled to Turkey, where their handlers operated through encrypted Telegram groups. The duo reportedly received instructions to plan attacks on crowded areas during Diwali, inspired by the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, but failed to execute them.
Multiple agencies — including the Delhi Police Special Cell, J&K Police, and UP ATS — are now tracing the remaining members of the “doctor module” believed to have links with foreign-based terror handlers.
