Delhi blast driver fled to Nuh from Faridabad: Police

Senior investigators from the National Investigation Agency and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, are now examining digital and financial trials for links between Nabi’s last days in Nuh to the procurement of explosives and the network.

No one seems to have noticed Dr. Mohammad Umar Un-Nabi’s quite exit from the Al-Falah Medical College in Faridabad on October 30. Ten days later, Nabi became the focus of a nationwide investigation after it emerged that he was driving the Hyundai 20 that exploded on a busy arterial road near the Red Fort on the evening of November 10, killing at least 12 people.

A screengrab from a CCTV footage showing Nabi getting a mobile phone repaired.

Investigations have now revealed that the doctor, part of an alleged white-collar terror network that included several doctors, was staying in a bare, rented room, in a house in Haryana’s Nuh, 82kilometres from Delhi, till the day before the blast. Senior investigators from the National Investigation Agency, which is in charge of the investigation, and the Jammu and Kashmir Police , which started the probe that led to the alleged terror module, are now examining digital and financial trials for links between Nabi’s last days in Nuh to the procurement of explosives and the network.

Nabi left the medical college, police said, after Dr. Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie, Umar’s close associate and colleague at Al-Falah, was nabbed from Faridabad. A series of arrests after anti-India posters surfaced in Nowgam, Srinagar, had led police to Ganaie. Subsequent raids also led to the seizure of large quantities of ammonium nitrate that could be used to build a bomb.

On October 30, Nabi was not on the investigators’ radar, an officer privy to the investigation, said.CCTV footage from the day before showed Nabi at a pollution centre with the recently-acquired , second-hand, i20 car. Another recording shows him getting a mobile phone repaired. But the arrest of his friend Ganaie--they both hail for Koil village in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir--seems to have spooked Nabi .

According to investigation records accessed by Hindustan Times, Nabi reached Nuh late on October 30 evening, helped by Shobah Khan, a nursing staff member at Al-Falah University . Khan took him to Hidayat Colony, where his sister-in-law, Afsana, an Anganwadi worker from Golpuri village, lived with her family. Khan has since been detained.

She agreed to rent one of her four rooms to Umar for ₹6,000, including ₹2,000 monthly rent and ₹4,000 security.

‘He never came out during the day’

Afsana’s 13-year-old daughter recounted to HT how Umar’s behaviour unnerved the family. “He never came out of the room during the day. He had two smartphones and would step out only after dark, mostly to eat dinner from roadside eateries,” she said. “He seemed very serious, never spoke to anyone, and lived in the same clothes for 11 days.”

The girl added that Umar never bathed or bought groceries during his stay. “He once got a bottle of water, that’s all. My mother told my uncle that he might be a criminal and asked my uncle to tell him to vacate the room. But my uncle requested to allow him to stay for just a few more days,” she said. “He left suddenly on the night of November 9. The room was stinking and we were scared. Later, we heard about the bomb blast on TV — then police came and took my uncle and mother for questioning. They haven’t returned yet.”

When the HT team visited the house, the rented room was guarded by police teams. Through the door, a 10x12 ft room with a single bed could be seen. It was empty otherwise.

The digital trail

Officials privy to the investigation said that CCTV footage from at least six locations captured Nabi’s movements between October 31 and November 10 — twice at the Rewasan and Khalilpur toll plazas, once near Sohna, and twice more along the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

“The Hyundai i20 used in the blast was brought to Nuh on the day Umar rented the room,” said a senior police officer. “He parked it nearly a kilometre away from Afsana’s house on Nuh-Alwar highway, probably to avoid detection,” the officer said.

According to toll records, Umar left the Hidayat Colony residence at 10:45 pm on November 9 and crossed the Khalilpur toll at 11:44 pm — around 30 km away. He was later seen driving towards the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, where he stopped near a broken-down truck loaded with stones. “He parked his car for nearly 3.5 hours beside the truck. There was a parking space on the highway where he had parked the car,” the officer said. CCTV footage reviewed by HT shows this clearly.

At 8.13 am on November 10, the car was captured on camera entering Delhi. More footage has emerged of the car’s journey through the city, including stops at Ashok Vihar in New Delhi and a mosque on Asaf Ali Road. At 6.52pm, according Delhi Police, an explosion ripped through the car as it slowed down for a red light near the Red Fort, killing Nabi and 11 others.

‘Hiding in plain sight’

Officials confirmed that the Delhi Police Special Cell has so far detained 12 people from Nuh, including people associated with Al-Falah Medical College and individuals suspected of providing logistical support.

Afsana ‘s neighbours in Hidayat Colony told HT that they had warned her about Umar’s “strange” behaviour. “He was never seen in daylight, and his car was parked far away from the house. We all felt something was wrong,” said Mohammad Javed, a local resident.

“This was not an impulsive act,” said a senior official. “Umar was hiding in plain sight, finalising logistics till the very end. Every movement he made was part of a larger plan that fortunately — though tragically — ended before it could expand further.”