Four Held in Red Fort Blast Case Sent to 12-Day Judicial Custody

• Delhi court sends four accused to 12 days’ judicial custody in Red Fort blast case
• Another accused, Dr Bilal Naseer Malla, produced for voice sample verification
• NIA says module of doctors provided support, destroyed evidence, scouted for suicide bomber
• Blast on November 10 outside Red Fort killed 15; probe spans multiple states

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 12th Dec: A Delhi court on Friday remanded three doctors and a preacher—arrested in connection with the November 10 Red Fort blast—to 12 days of judicial custody, as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) deepens its probe into what it calls a sophisticated “white-collar” terror network.

Those remanded include Dr Muzammil Ganai, Dr Adeel Rather, Dr Shaheena Saeed and Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay. The four were produced before the court ahead of the expiry of their four-day NIA custody granted on December 8. Media access to proceedings was barred, and security was heightened across the Patiala House Court complex.

Another accused, Dr Bilal Naseer Malla, was brought before Principal and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna for authentication of his voice sample. Malla, a resident of Baramulla district in Jammu & Kashmir, is the eighth arrest in the case and was picked up by the NIA in Delhi on December 9.

According to the agency, Malla “knowingly harboured” Dr Umar Un Nabi, the alleged suicide bomber who drove the explosive-laden i20 car that detonated outside Red Fort, killing 15 people and injuring several others. The NIA has accused Malla of offering logistical support and destroying crucial evidence linked to the attack.

The NIA says the busted module—led by a group of medical professionals—had been scouting for a suicide bomber since last year, with Umar acting as the key planner of the conspiracy. Investigators believe the group used their professional stature to mask operational activities, making the module harder to detect.

The agency has been conducting coordinated searches across multiple states to trace additional suspects associated with the blast, which it earlier described as the work of a “well-trained and ideologically motivated network”.

With Friday’s remand, the NIA has now made eight arrests, signalling what officials describe as “rapid progress” in uncovering the full extent of the terror conspiracy behind one of the deadliest attacks in the national capital in recent years.