A DNA test has confirmed that Dr. Umar Nabi was driving the car that exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort earlier this week, killing several people and triggering a major security alert, police sources said on Thursday.
According to investigators, DNA samples of Umar’s mother were collected on Tuesday and sent for forensic examination. The samples were compared with biological remains recovered from the blast site, leading to a conclusive match.
“The DNA results confirm that it was indeed Umar Nabi who was driving the vehicle that exploded near Red Fort,” a senior police official said.
Umar, a resident of Koil village in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, was identified as a key member of a “white-collar” terror module that was busted earlier this week. The network, police said, had links to proscribed terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
Just hours after the module’s exposure and the arrest of eight suspects, including three doctors, a high-intensity explosion ripped through a Hyundai i20 near the Red Fort Metro Station on Monday evening. The car was reportedly carrying explosives when it detonated, killing Umar instantly and injuring several bystanders.
Police said the blast investigation led them to a wider network spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, where raids resulted in the seizure of nearly 3,000 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate, and sulphur — materials commonly used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Authorities are now focusing on tracing funding routes and handlers of the module, which they suspect was planning multiple attacks in northern India before being intercepted.
