Red Fort blast probe handed to NIA; JeM, LeT under lens

The intelligence assessment highlights similarities between terror plots busted this week by police in Gujarat, J&K and Haryana.

The National Investigation Agency took over the probe into Monday’s vehicle-borne explosion at Red Fort on Tuesday, with intelligence pointing to a coordinated inter-state terror conspiracy linked to Pakistan-based anti-India groups.

Security deployed outside the Red Fort on Tuesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Preliminary analysis based on recent crackdowns by Gujarat, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir police, along with digital evidence, has placed both Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) under scrutiny, according to officials familiar with the investigation.

A senior official from a central intelligence agency said JeM remained a suspect because of its expertise in suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. LeT’s involvement is being examined after intelligence agencies intercepted two Afghan mobile numbers that shared a WhatsApp message claiming responsibility on the group’s behalf.

“This particular claim could be information warfare,” the officer said. The message praised LeT fighters, vowed revenge against Hindus and threatened further attacks until “India is destroyed”.

According to a second official familiar with the intelligence assessment reviewed by HT, the attack coincides with recent activities by Pakistani cleric Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, a close aide of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and general secretary of Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith. Zaheer recently delivered radical sermons in Bangladesh promoting the ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ narrative.

“Intelligence also suggests that Hafiz Saeed is establishing Bangladesh as a new base for anti-India LeT operations to avoid the Kashmir route,” the officer said.

The intelligence assessment highlights similarities between terror plots busted this week by police in Gujarat, J&K and Haryana. Gujarat’s anti-terrorism squad arrested three persons, including Dr Mohiuddin Syed, who were preparing attacks using Ricin, a chemical poison synthesised from castor bean waste.

Simultaneously, J&K and Haryana police recovered 360kg of ammonium nitrate and arms from Al-Falah hospital in Faridabad, linked to Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather and Dr Muzammil Shakeel. Dr Umar Un Nabi, the only missing person in the Faridabad module, is the prime suspect believed to have been behind the wheel of the i20 at the time of the explosion.

“These crackdowns indicate coordinated, interconnected and inter-state logistics across Gujarat, the national capital region and J&K. This also suggests coordination through Pakistan-based ideologues,” the second officer said.

A third officer said technical analysis by central agencies suggests Pakistan Army’s ISPR began information warfare campaigns immediately after Monday’s blast “to deflect accountability and shape public narratives”.

The assessment adds that the Red Fort attack points to a new strategy involving “low-intensity, high-symbolism attacks along with online warfare”.

An NIA spokesperson said on Tuesday that the Union home ministry had issued orders for handing over the investigation to the agency. “NIA, which was associated with the local police since Monday, has started the process of formally taking over the case,” the spokesperson said.

The agency, which has taken over from Delhi Police, will examine all these angles and has already begun formal investigation.