November 13, 2025

New Delhi / Faridabad: The investigation into the Red Fort car blast has taken another significant turn with the arrest of a man identified as Zamil, allegedly the recruiter in what officials are describing as a “white-collar terror module.” The arrest was made from Al Falah University in Faridabad on Thursday, marking the latest in a series of detentions that are exposing the sophisticated and well-connected network behind the deadly explosion.

According to senior officials, Zamil played a key role in identifying, motivating, and recruiting educated professionals — including medical students and young doctors — into the module that investigators now link to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), two Pakistan-based terrorist organisations.

The Arrest and Expanding Web

Zamil’s arrest came hours after police detained Faheem, a relative of Dr. Umar Un Nabi, the prime suspect in Monday’s Red Fort blast. Faheem was apprehended from Faridabad’s Khandawali village, where police had located a red Ford EcoSport believed to be part of the terror operation.

Authorities said Faheem was responsible for parking the EcoSport, which investigators suspect may have been intended for a subsequent attack. A 200-metre radius around the vehicle was cordoned off, and a bomb disposal squad was deployed to examine the area for explosives or triggering devices.

“Faheem has been handed over to the Delhi Police Special Cell,” an officer confirmed. “His statement and the digital evidence recovered from his phone are expected to help investigators piece together the module’s operational hierarchy.”

A Trail of Cars and Clues

The Red Fort explosion, which killed at least 10 people and injured several others near the Red Fort Metro Station on Monday evening, is now being linked to a larger plot involving multiple vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs).

Investigators revealed that the suspects had procured three vehicles — a white Hyundai i20, a red Ford EcoSport, and a Maruti Suzuki Brezza — to transport and potentially detonate explosives at multiple locations across Delhi and nearby cities.

The i20 was the car that exploded near the Red Fort, with DNA tests confirming that Dr. Umar Un Nabi was behind the wheel at the time of detonation. Nabi, a 35-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir, had been captured on CCTV driving across Delhi hours before the blast. His calm demeanor and calculated movements, tracked across 25 cameras, suggest a deliberate and premeditated act.

The Ford EcoSport, meanwhile, is registered in Umar’s name, according to police sources. Investigators believe he used it earlier for reconnaissance activities — visiting crowded areas, security checkpoints, and key public sites to map potential targets.

The Maruti Brezza, the third vehicle, is still untraced. An all-points alert remains active across Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to locate it. Police believe the Brezza could contain explosive materials or digital evidence linking the suspects to their wider network.

Al Falah University Under Scrutiny

The focus of the probe has now shifted to Al Falah University, a private institution in Faridabad’s Dhauj area, which has emerged as a central hub in the case. Investigators believe several key accused — including doctors and postgraduate students — were either associated with or recruited through the university.

Police teams visited the university campus and nearby residential quarters on Wednesday, questioning staff and students linked to Dr. Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, one of the prime suspects arrested earlier this week. Ganaie, also from Jammu and Kashmir, is believed to have been the bridge between radical handlers abroad and local recruits in north India.

Authorities suspect that Zamil, the newly arrested recruiter, worked closely with Ganaie to identify promising individuals from professional backgrounds — particularly those in medicine, engineering, and IT — who could assist in logistics, financing, and communications without attracting attention.

“Zamil was deeply embedded within the student community at Al Falah University,” said an official familiar with the probe. “He is educated, articulate, and ideologically motivated. His role was to identify potential recruits, assess their vulnerabilities, and introduce them to higher operatives in the network.”

The “White-Collar” Terror Module

The so-called “white-collar terror module”, uncovered earlier this week, is at the center of an expanding investigation led jointly by the Delhi Police Special Cell, Uttar Pradesh ATS, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Officials say the module comprised a group of highly educated professionals, including three doctors with ties to Al Falah University and medical colleges in Lucknow and Kanpur. Among those already in custody are Dr. Shaheen Saeed, a Lucknow-based physician arrested on November 9; Dr. Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, a Kashmiri postgraduate doctor from Faridabad; and Dr. Mohammad Arif, a cardiology resident detained from Kanpur on Wednesday night.

The network, investigators believe, had been quietly operating across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, using professional identities to mask their activities. Over 2,900 kilograms of explosive materials were seized from multiple sites during raids conducted earlier this week.

Links to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind

Preliminary interrogation reports suggest that the module maintained contact with operatives linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), both designated terrorist organisations based in Pakistan. The two groups are believed to have provided ideological backing, digital communication support, and possibly funding through cryptocurrency channels.

Investigators are now examining encrypted messages exchanged through Telegram and Signal to determine the nature of the module’s external links. Officials are also tracing money transfers through hawala networks and digital walletsconnected to suspects’ accounts.

The Expanding Probe and the Road Ahead

With Zamil’s arrest, the total number of people detained or arrested in connection with the Red Fort blast and the larger white-collar module has risen to nine. Officials said more arrests are likely as digital forensics, financial records, and call data are analyzed.

A senior Delhi Police officer described Zamil’s arrest as “a crucial breakthrough.” “He was not directly involved in the bombing but was instrumental in building the network — connecting individuals who shared radical sympathies and giving structure to their operations,” the officer said.

Investigators are also looking into whether Zamil or others used Al Falah University resources — such as lab facilities, campus internet networks, or communication systems — to store or exchange sensitive data.

Security Heightened Across NCR

Following the discovery of multiple vehicles linked to the case, security agencies have heightened surveillance across Delhi, Faridabad, and Gurugram. Border checkpoints have been reinforced, and a special drive has been launched to inspect parking lots, garages, and abandoned vehicles.

Explosive detection teams have been placed on alert at major public locations, including metro stations, shopping complexes, and government buildings. “We cannot rule out the possibility of additional explosive devices being prepared or planted,” an official from the Delhi Police Special Cell said.

A Network Unraveling

The arrests over the past week — of doctors, recruiters, and family associates — have painted a disturbing picture of a new generation of radicalisation: educated, urban, and technologically adept individuals drawn into extremist networks under the guise of professional respectability.

For investigators, the focus now is not only to identify the perpetrators but also to understand how such individuals were recruited, radicalised, and operationalised. As one senior officer remarked, “This case is as much about ideology as it is about logistics. We’re looking at how terror has found a new face — not in the wilderness, but in the corridors of classrooms and hospitals.”

With Zamil’s arrest from Al Falah University and the continued search for the missing Maruti Brezza, the probe into the Red Fort blast has entered its most crucial phase — one that could determine how deeply this white-collar terror network has infiltrated India’s academic and professional institutions.