Delhi's New Nightmare,
Why security agencies are in a tizzy
Dr Umar: 3rd suicide bomber
Harish Gupta
The November 10 attack at Delhi's Red Fort has shaken the security and intelligence agencies. Though a major catastrophe was averted as "Doctor-Terror network" had planned many explosions on December 6, the shoe suicide bomber, Dr Umar Nabi has made agencies extremely worried.
It is not that the suicide bombers have not operated in the country before.The first such known incident took place in Pulwama (J&K) in 2019 when a van-borne bomb rammed a military convoy killing 40 soldiers. Three years later, a car filled with potassium nitrate etc. exploded in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore in October 2022, killing only the driver. He was later identified as Jameesha Mubin, a self-styled operative of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probed it and 75 kg of potassium nitrate, aluminum powder, sulfur, etc. was recovered from Mobin's house. The matter ended there.
Now three years later, in November 2025 - ammonium nitrate fuel oil stuffed into the back of a Hyundai i20 detonated atRed Fort. A new weapon - Vehicular-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIEDs) - car bombs, a most dangerous mass-casualty form was fitted by the bomber in his shoe. The suicide bomber Dr Umar had even recorded a video before the incident. The probe has revealed that Dr Umar was not the lone wolf and was part of a core group of 10-12 persons.
The agencies are perplexed that this group was operating for almost two years and no one could even smell anything anywhere. No doubt, this module operated at the instance of Pak-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed which also operates from Madrassas and Maulvis. Several Islamic clerics from Haryana, UP to J&K were radicalizing them. The security apparatus is worried about this urban radicalized group operating quietly with the silent support of some community members too.
