Blast probe handed over to NIA Umar Mohammad Nabi, Pulwama doctor in the middle of the 'car bomb'

Jaish hand evident, say officials

- MUKESH RANJAN, FAYAZ WANI & NAMITA BAJPAI

THE investigation into the deadly car blast near Delhi's Red Fort on November 10 that killed 12 people was on Tuesday formally handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), following high-level security meetings chaired by home minister Amit Shah.

Security agencies, working in coordination with state police across J&K, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, launched extensive search operations on Tuesday and found multiple leads linked to the banned Pakistanbased Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit.

Preliminary investigations revealed incriminating JeM internal communications that suggest 'revenge' as the motive for internal disloyalty. An intercepted letter recovered in J&K's Nowgam, believed to have originated from the Pakistan-based outfit, threatens punishment for 'betrayals' within JeM, exhibiting rhetoric consistent with earlier internal directives.

Senior intelligence officials suggest that factional pressure and infighting within JeM could have precipitated the Delhi blast, following counter-insurgency activity in Kashmir.