New Delhi, Nov 13: A DNA test has confirmed that Dr Umar Nabi, a resident of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, was driving the car that exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort earlier this week, police sources said on Thursday.
According to officials, DNA samples of Umar’s mother were collected on Tuesday and matched with biological remains recovered from the blast site. “The DNA results confirm that it was indeed Umar who was driving the fateful vehicle,” said a senior police source involved in the investigation.
Umar Nabi was identified as a key member of a ‘white-collar’ terror module busted by the police just hours before the Red Fort explosion. The group has alleged links to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, both proscribed terror outfits, investigators said.
The high-intensity explosion, which occurred around 6:50 pm on Monday, ripped through a Hyundai i20 near the Red Fort metro station, killing nine people and gutting several vehicles. The blast came shortly after police had arrested eight suspects, including three doctors, and seized nearly 3,000 kilograms of explosive materials — including ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate, and sulphur — from multiple locations across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is now leading the probe into what officials describe as a planned terror attack intended to target a crowded area in the national capital.
