Red Fort blast: NIA arrests 7th person, nursing staffer from Al-Falah, in probe

According to investigators, Shoaib allegedly played a crucial role in the days leading up to the attack, harbouring Umar and assisting him with “critical logistical arrangements”.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a 32-year-old resident of Faridabad, Haryana, for allegedly providing shelter and logistical support to Dr Umar-un-Nabi, the alleged suicide bomber behind the deadly November 10 Red Fort blast. The accused, Mohammad Shoaib of Dhauj village, is the seventh person to be held in the terror probe, officials said on Wednesday.

The NIA produced accused, Mohammad Shoaib, in Red Fort blast case at Patiala House Court in New Delhi on Wednesday. (HT photo)

According to investigators familiar with the probe, Shoaib allegedly played a crucial role in the days leading up to the attack, harbouring Umar and assisting him with “critical logistical arrangements”, including movement, concealment and safe accommodation.

“The arrest was made on Tuesday after NIA teams, acting on fresh leads, picked up Shoaib during coordinated operations in the National Capital Region. We have registered a case against him,” said a senior NIA officer, asking not to be named.

Shoaib’s arrest has helped the agency fill in an important gap in the timelines of Umar’s movement before the explosives-laden vehicle blew up near the Red Fort, said the officer, adding that evidence had pointed to the accused Soyab playing a knowing role in providing safe passage and support.

“His custody will help us map out the wider support network that enabled the bomber,” the officer said.

HT earlier reported that Shoaib, a nursing staffer at Al-Falah University, had arranged Umar’s accommodation for 10 days before the blast at his sister-in-law‘s room in Hidayat Colony in Haryana’s Nuh. Shoaib was also the allegedly driver of a white i20 in which Umar escaped the Al-Falah campus on October 30 after investigators apprehended Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie, one of the key conspirators in a “white-collar” terror module. That i20 was later used in the blast.

The NIA has so far arrested six other alleged associates of Umar, all of whom are believed to have contributed to planning, reconnaissance and logistics. Investigators are probing whether the group was guided by handlers based outside India, and whether the bomber received financial or material assistance from any larger network.

Following the attack, the agency launched a sweeping multi-state investigation, conducting searches across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir with the support of state police units. Officials said several digital devices, communication records and handwritten documents have already been recovered and are being undergoing forensic examination.

Another NIA officer said that the conspiracy is “multi-layered” and that identifying every link remains its top priority. “We are pursuing all angles, including cross-border linkages and possible motivators behind the suicide strike. More arrests are likely,” he said.

The November 10 explosion, carried out using an improvised explosive device fitted into a stolen vehicle, was among the deadliest attacks in the capital in recent years. The fresh arrest, officials said, brings the agency closer to piecing together the full chain of events leading to the blast.