NIA arrests ‘co-conspirator'; worked on drones, rockets

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested another “active co-conspirator” linked to the deadly November 10 Red Fort blast, tightening its probe into what officials describe as a highly organised “white-collar” terror module active across several states.

- Sanjeev K Jha and Karn Pratap Singh

The arrested man ~ identified as Jasir Bilal Wani, alias Danish, a 20-year-old resident of Qazigund in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district - allegedly provided “critical technical support” to the group, including “modifying drones” and “attempting to fabricate rockets”, the NIA said ina statement.

“Preliminary findings suggest Wani was an active co-conspirator and worked closely with the suicide bomber, Umar un-Nabi, who drove the explosive-laden vehicle that blew up near the Red Fort. Wani’s technical skills were leveraged to enhance the module's strike capability,” said an NIA official, asking not to be named.

This is NIA’s second arrest in the case in as many days. On Sunday, the agency arrested Amir Rashid Ali, a plumber from Kashmir who owned the vehicle that Nabi was driving.

Wani, a Bachelor of Science student at Degree College Lawdora, was initially detained by the Jammu & Kashmir Police for questioning before being handed over to the NIA team stationed in Srinagar. Officials said he lived next to Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, another doctor arrested earlier for his role in the same module.