NIA tells court: Amir Rashid Ali was ‘logistical backbone’ in Red Fort blast

NIA claims Amir Rashid Mir aided the Red Fort blast, providing logistics, weapons, and a vehicle for the suicide bomber; he is now in custody for 10 days.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told a Delhi court on Monday that Amir Rashid Mir, accused of co-conspiring in the Red Fort blast, provided extensive logistical support to alleged suicide bomber Umar un-Nabi – from arranging weapons and a safe house to supplying the Hyundai i20 used in the attack.

Amir Rashid Ali being taken to Patiala House Courts on Monday. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

The agency made the submissions before principal sessions judge Anju Bajaj Chandna at Patiala House Courts, where Mir was produced a day after his arrest. He was remanded to 10 days of NIA custody.

According to the remand note submitted by the agency and reviewed by HT, the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort was intended to “threaten public order” and “destabilise and threaten the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of the country.”

NIA said the attack was executed “with such intensity and precision” that it “strikes terror in the minds of the general public,” adding that the conspiracy was designed to “cause alarm” and “instil fear.”

“…the incident carried and coordinated by the accused persons was intended to cause alarm in the minds of the public and instil fear…,” the remand note stated.

Mir, a resident of Samboora village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pampore, was arrested at 12.15pm on Sunday. Investigators said he was one of the key conspirators and played a primary role in arranging logistics for Umar un-Nabi. The agency said Mir provided his Hyundai i20 – found to be registered in his name – which was later used in the November 10 blast. He also allegedly arranged weapons and a safe house, which investigators believe served as a base for multiple conspirators.

“Accused Amir Rashid Mir was found to be involved in providing a safe house to suicide bomber Umar where logistics such as vehicles and weapons were sources and gathered,” the note stated.

The remand note states that Mir travelled from Pampore to Delhi two weeks before the blast to purchase the vehicle from a second-hand car dealer in Faridabad. The dealer has identified Mir and verified the documents, NIA said. While the agency has not yet disclosed the location of the purported safe house, it told the court that the premises were used not only by Umar but also by other accomplices whose identities they hope to uncover through Mir’s interrogation.

The agency also informed the court that Mir’s medical examination was conducted at RML Hospital before his production. During the hearing, Mir was represented by legal aid counsel Smrati Chaturvedi, while public prosecutors Kushdeep Gaur and Anil Dabas appeared for the NIA.

Seeking extended custody, NIA argued, “Accused’s custody is required to get leads on the other perpetrators. Accused will be taken to Kashmir, after reviewing the security situation, to point out further evidence… over 70 witnesses have been examined so far”.

NIA, which took over the investigation from the Delhi Police Special Cell and registered a separate FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, also told the court it has recovered another vehicle linked to Umar. The vehicle is undergoing forensic examination to determine whether it played a role in the November 10 explosion that killed 13 people and injured several others.