NEW DELHI (MNN); India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday announced the arrest of Amir Rashid Ali, a resident of Indian-occupied Kashmir, in connection with the deadly car explosion in New Delhi earlier this week.
The blast, which occurred near a busy metro station close to the historic Red Fort, killed between 10 and 12 people and left more than 30 injured. It was the first major explosion reported in the heavily secured capital since 2011.
According to the NIA, the car used in the attack was registered in Ali’s name. Investigators alleged that he conspired with the suspected suicide bomber, identified as Umarun Nabi, a resident of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district and an assistant professor of general medicine at a university in Haryana.
The agency stated that Ali had travelled to Delhi to help arrange the purchase of the vehicle, which was later turned into a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device used to carry out the attack.
The NIA said it had also seized another vehicle belonging to Umarun Nabi for forensic inspection and confirmed that extensive raids had been conducted across occupied Kashmir as part of the investigation. So far, 73 witnesses have been questioned, including survivors of the blast.
Indian authorities have categorised the explosion as a terror attack. Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed it a conspiracy and pledged that the perpetrators, their collaborators, and their sponsors would be brought to justice at the earliest.
