Sources in the ongoing investigation have revealed that a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) handler operating under the alias ‘Hanzulla’ directly shared bomb-making instructional videos with Dr Muzamil Shakeel, one of the accused doctors in the suicide bombing near Delhi’s Red Fort that claimed 15 lives last week.
Preliminary probes indicate that ‘Hanzulla’ is a pseudonym. The same name had surfaced earlier on Jaish-e-Mohammed recruitment posters that appeared in Nowgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in October this year, where the handler was referred to as ‘Commander Hanzulla bhai’. These posters were among the triggers that intensified counter-terror operations in the region and eventually led investigators to the Delhi module.
Security agencies are now actively tracing the location and identity of this Pakistan-based handler.
According to sources, the handler first established contact with Dr Muzamil Shakeel through Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, a radical cleric from Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir. It was Maulvi Irfan who initially radicalised the doctors and helped form the white-collar terror module. Maulvi recruited Shakeel—who was employed as a doctor at Al-Falah University in Faridabad and whose medical licence has since been cancelled—before Shakeel went on to identify and bring in other like-minded doctors from the same university: Muzaffar Ahmad, Adeel Ahmad Rather, and Shaheen Saeed.
Also Read: ED probe uncovers ₹415-cr ‘scam’ at Al Falah varsity
Dr Muzamil Shakeel is accused of personally transporting the explosives used in the attack. He is also alleged to have handed over the white Hyundai i20 car that was later used in the suicide bombing to the bomber, Umar Mohammad alias Umar-un-Nabi.
Sources said the terror module, which has clear linkages to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, had been meticulously planning attacks in the national capital and surrounding areas for several months. The group was reportedly assembling as many as 200 powerful Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) intended for high-profile targets across Delhi, Gurugram, and Faridabad. In addition to the white Hyundai i20 that exploded near the Red Fort, the suicide bomber and his associates had procured two more cars in Delhi for similar operations.
Also Read: Delhi bomber visited Pulwama home week before blast
To evade detection, the accused doctors communicated primarily through the encrypted messaging platform Telegram, using code words derived from common dishes. In their chats, “biryani” referred to explosive material while “daawat” denoted a specific terror event or operation.
The white Hyundai i20 exploded near the Red Fort last week. Subsequent DNA analysis has conclusively identified the remains inside the vehicle as those of Umar Mohammad alias Umar-un-Nabi, confirming he was the suicide bomber.
The timing of the blast coincided with the recovery of 2,900 kg of explosives just 50 km from the national capital, in Faridabad, Haryana. Sources believe Umar panicked and prematurely detonated the device after learning that two key members of the module—Dr Muzamil Shakeel and Adeel Ahmad Rather, both Kashmiri residents—had been arrested and the large cache of explosives seized by investigators.
Also Read: SIT to probe Al-Falah University's alleged Red Fort blast links
Follow us
