Seeds of terror

Resurgence of radicalisation and a series of systemic failures seem to have led to the Delhi blast; the way forward includes not just government measures, but also involvement of families and the community

- BY NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

In the bustling lanes of downtown Kanpur, an unusual silence hangs over the home of Dr Zafar Hayat. He speaks in a tired, almost hushed tone about Dr Shaheen Saeed, his former wife and mother to his two children. The family is still coming to terms with the fact that she is an accused in the conspiracy behind the Red Fort blast on November 10, which killed 15 civilians and the suicide bomber, Dr Umar Un Nabi of Faridabad's Al Falah University.

Their first response is denial—not only of her alleged role, but also her memory. “My elder son is 20 and the younger one is still in school,” says Hayat. “They were very small when we got divorced (2013) and she left. The younger one hardly has any memory of Shaheen, and the older one is busy studying medicine and avoids social media. We have our own life and don't meet too many people."

An ophthalmologist at a hospital in Kanpur, Hayat is understandably uncomfortable with the media glare on his family. "I had no inkling of her extremist ideas. She was a good mother...," his voice trails off.

Investigators say that Saeed, who also worked at Al Falah University, was part of a core terror module that included Maulvi Irfan Ahmad Wagay of Shopian, who delivered sermons in Nowgam's local mosques, and three radicalised doctors—Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather, a native of Anantnag, working in Saharanpur; Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai of Pulwama; and the suicide bomber Nabi. They were assisted by a wider ecosystem of foot-soldiers, financiers, logistical suppliers and sympathisers, who worked in tandem to execute the plot.

The scale of involvement, say officials, indicates that the operation was planned over months. In fact, two months before the module was busted, Adeel's elder brother Muzaffar is said to have left for Afghanistan. Investigators say Nabi was meant to leave with him, but stayed back to execute the plans handed down by the masterminds.