New Delhi: The ongoing probe into the car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort is zeroing in on the alleged direct role of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), with investigators identifying an operative named Faisal Iqbal as the central figure in the plot. Officials say an operation of such magnitude, which included the creation of the Faridabad module, could not have been mounted without institutional backing, and they believe Iqbal was specifically tasked with setting up the module and overseeing an operation that envisaged as many as 200 blasts.
Agencies have confirmed his Pakistani identity and his role, but are still trying to determine whether he was coordinating the conspiracy from Pakistan or Afghanistan, as the ISI is thought to have wanted the entire episode orchestrated from outside its own soil to avoid any clear trail. As part of the investigation, officers have been examining and analysing chat records between members of the module and their handlers to reconstruct the chain of command.
According to the probe, three handlers were involved in directing the conspiracy, each assigned distinct responsibilities, with the most critical role attributed to ISI official Faisal Iqbal. Investigators say he gave detailed instructions to the accused on how to create and use Telegram channels, and advised them on methods to remain discreet both in their planning and in the process of setting up the module.
Officials suspect the module had been in the making since 2019, with the structure beginning to take shape in 2021 and becoming fully operational by 2023. The precision with which it is believed to have functioned, while staying off the security radar, has led investigators to conclude that a senior ISI professional was directly involved in guiding the entire operation.
They describe the design of the plot as being modelled on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, with planning and final execution kept tightly compartmentalised and secretive. According to officials, the operation drew in the top brass of the ISI and sections of Pakistan’s armed forces, with each arm reportedly involved in planning, training, logistics and execution, the sort of coordination they say is required for an operation on this scale.
The establishment of the Faridabad module itself is described as having been overseen entirely by ISI professionals. Investigators point to the quantity of ammonium nitrate seized and the detailed plans attributed to the cell as indicators of the scale of the conspiracy. They say the two other handlers identified in the case were Ukasha and Hashim, who, along with Iqbal, are alleged to have played key roles in radicalising and directing the members of the module.
These two handlers are believed to have been operating from the Tora Bora mountains, working in tandem with Iqbal to provide ideological indoctrination and operational guidance from abroad. Although the plot was controlled from foreign soil, investigators say the ISI also felt the need for a local link and selected Mufti Irfan Ahmed Wagay from Jammu and Kashmir to play that role.
Chat transcripts between Wagay, the module’s operatives and the foreign handlers are said to show his direct involvement in the conspiracy. He is accused of being behind Jaish-e-Mohammad propaganda posters that surfaced in Nowgam in October, an incident that prompted a Jammu and Kashmir Police investigation which eventually led to the unravelling of the Faridabad module.
Investigators describe Wagay as a cleric from Shopian who helped transfer funds and weapons and took part in indoctrinating members of the Faridabad cell. He is also said to have remained in close contact with Dr Shaheen Saeed, identified as being in charge of radicalisation and recruitment for the module.
Other alleged conspirators named in the case include Muzammil Ahmed Ganai, from whose rented flat in Faridabad around 350 kg of ammonium nitrate was recovered, as well as Adeel Ahmed Rather and Dr Umar Nabi, who is said to have driven the i20 car that exploded near the Red Fort.
(Inputs from IANS)