‘Restless and anxious’: Nuh eatery staff recall final days of Red Fort bomber

Investigators said that CCTV footage from markets and testimonies from staff at eateries have given them a window into Nabi’s final movements in the days leading up to the explosion.

Investigators tracing the final days of Umar un-Nabi – the man behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 that exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort last Monday – detained the owner of a medical shop in Dhauj who police described as a “friend” of Nabi and one of the last people to speak with him in Faridabad before the suspected suicide bomber moved base to Nuh under an alias.

A crime branch team arrives at Al-Falah University on Sunday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The shop owner, who investigators privy with the case said had known the 35-year-old doctor for nearly a year, became a key figure on Sunday as teams in Faridabad tried to reconstruct how Nabi slipped out of the city, rented a room under the name “Mohammad Afsar,” and moved to Nuh as investigators arrested his associates and unravelled their module.

Meanwhile, in Nuh, officers said that witnesses have described to them the doctor’s restless behaviour, visible anxiety, and rushed late-night movements at a time when agencies detained his alleged conspirators such as Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Shahid.

Investigators said that CCTV footage from markets and testimonies from staff at eateries have given them a window into Nabi’s final movements in the days leading up to the November 10 explosion.

At F’bad medical shop

According to officials, CCTV footage recovered earlier this week showed Nabi visiting a medical shop in Dhauj, 800 metres from the Al-Falah Medical College where he worked. During that visit on October 29, he left his cellphone to charge and spent nearly half an hour talking to the shop owner, who told police that the doctor would often stop by to discuss patients and offer treatment advice for locals.

“He sometimes helped with treatment advice when local patients came in,” the shop owner told investigators before he was detained for questioning. Investigators said Nabi appeared composed during that visit and had even asked the shop owner if he knew of any rooms available for rent on the outskirts.

But in other CCTV clips – six in total – recovered from Dhauj market and Sirohi village on October 29, he was seen talking on his phone, appearing tense and repeatedly checking his surroundings as he walked through lanes after parking his car by the roadside. Investigators believe these movements could have been part of Nabi’s reconnaissance before he abruptly left Faridabad after the October 30 detention of his associate, Dr Muzammil, and rented a single room in Nuh’s Hidayat Colony under the alias “Mohammad Afsar.”

His ‘tense’ stay at Nuh

Police officials familiar with the case said teams from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Faridabad Police have since questioned owners and workers at three eateries along a 12-km stretch between Hidayat Colony and the Nuh-Alwar Road, where Nabi was a regular visitor between October 30 and November 9. CCTV footage from different locations – including Mission Hospital, a hardware shop, a grocery store, a spare-parts corner and two houses – confirmed his nightly walks toward the highway around 10.30pm, always wearing the same pair of clothes and returning roughly an hour later.

Testimonies from the staff at dhabas along this stretch appeared to suggest he was restless and anxious, investigators said. To be sure, this would be the same time that sleuths had cracked down on the so-called “white-collar” terror module.

“He used to come alone every night,” said Akram Khan, a server at a small roadside dhaba. “He would quietly ask what was cooked for the day. He ate fast, barely spoke, and tipped ₹100 before leaving.” Khan said Nabi appeared tense and restless, glancing constantly at passing vehicles. “He was never relaxed. He ate while looking toward the road, as if expecting someone.”

Another dhaba worker, Mohammad Zubair, who runs a biryani stall nearby, said he saw the doctor twice. “The second time, he seemed agitated, talking on the phone in what sounded like Urdu but with a Kashmiri accent. He was pacing outside before sitting in his car for a long time,” he said.

A fruit vendor nearby said he often saw the Hyundai i20 parked along the Nuh-Alwar road. “After eating, he would sit in the car for several minutes without starting it. One night, I saw him shouting on the phone and banging his hand on the car door. He looked very upset,” the vendor said.

Investigators believe those moments of visible distress coincided with the arrests of his associates, including Dr Muzammil and Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, who were detained around the same time. “By early November, the network had collapsed. His hideout was compromised, and communication channels were being traced,” said a senior Haryana police officer.

Locals in Hidayat Colony said police returned on Saturday – two days before the blast – showing photographs of Nabi and asking about his movements during his stay under the alias.

Police believe the medical store visit in Dhauj may have been one of his final interactions in Faridabad before he went underground. The shop owner has since been handed over to the NIA for questioning.