NIA Names Three More in Red Fort Blast Case, Including Absconding Doctor
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a supplementary charge-sheet naming three additional accused in connection with the car bomb explosion near the Red Fort in November 2025. The blast, which killed the prime accused Umer Un Nabi, occurred in a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) attack.
The new accused are Zameer Ahmad Ahanger, Tufail Ahmad Bhat, and Muzafar Ahmad (also known as Faraz or Zafar), all residents of Jammu and Kashmir. This brings the total number of charge-sheeted individuals in the case to 13.
According to the NIA, Muzafar Ahmad, a paediatrician with an MBBS and MD degree, is the elder brother of co-accused Dr. Adeel Ahmed Rather and a founding member of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), an offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The agency alleges he is a primary architect of the conspiracy, along with co-accused Umer, Muzammil, Adeel, and Mufti Irfan.
The NIA claims Muzafar attended a secret meeting in Eidgah, Srinagar in June 2022, during which the AGuH Interim terror module was established. He is further accused of being involved in manufacturing, testing, and storing TATP-based IEDs at a facility at Al-Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana. A non-bailable warrant has been issued against him.
Zameer Ahmad Ahanger is alleged to be an overground worker (OGW) for AGuH Interim, acting as a courier for arms, ammunition, and cash. Tufail Ahmad Bhat, formerly an OGW of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is accused of procuring weapons—including an AK-47, a Krinkov rifle, a pistol, and ammunition—and delivering them to Umer Un Nabi for ₹3 lakh.
The NIA stated that its investigations relied on multi-disciplinary scientific methods, including forensic testing, geo-location mapping, and financial trail analysis, to establish links between the accused.
