Turkey Emerges as Shadow Hub in Delhi Red Fort Terror Probe
Investigators Uncover Chilling Links to Jaish-e-Mohammed Handlers in Ankara, as Radicalised Doctors from Kashmir Plot Foiled Republic Day Strike
New Delhi, November 13, 2025 – In a shocking twist to the deadly car blast that ripped through rush-hour traffic near Delhi’s iconic Red Fort three days ago, Indian anti-terror agencies have zeroed in on Turkey as a burgeoning nerve centre for anti-India operations, with direct ties to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror network. The explosion, which claimed 12 lives and injured over 30 others, was no random accident but a panicked detonation by a “white-collar” terror module of educated professionals radicalised via encrypted apps and overseas meetings, sources revealed Thursday.
The blast occurred at 6:52 PM on November 10, when a white Hyundai i20, packed with ammonium nitrate-based improvised explosives, erupted in a fireball amid congested streets close to the Red Fort Metro Station. CCTV footage, released by Delhi Police, captured the horrific moment: the vehicle, crawling in peak-hour snarl, suddenly engulfed in flames, shattering nearby cars and sending debris flying into crowds of commuters and vendors. Among the dead was Dr. Umar Mohammad, alias Umar Un Nabi, a 32-year-old assistant professor from Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, whose DNA—matched via his mother’s sample—confirmed he was behind the wheel, his leg jammed between the accelerator and steering in the chaos.
What began as a probe into a possible suicide bombing has snowballed into a multinational conspiracy, with Nabi and his key accomplice, Dr. Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie—also a Pulwama native and colleague at Faridabad’s Al-Falah University—implicated in a web spanning Kashmir, Haryana, and Istanbul. Both men, described by stunned family members as “introverted scholars with stellar academic records,” had travelled to Turkey earlier this year on what investigators now believe were reconnaissance missions to rendezvous with JeM handlers codenamed “Ukasa.” There, they allegedly received training, funding via hawala routes, and directives to execute revenge strikes for India’s “Operation Sindoor”—a 2024 cross-border raid that dismantled JeM camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
“This wasn’t the work of illiterate foot soldiers; it was a sophisticated module of doctors leveraging medical supply chains for explosives procurement,” a senior National Investigation Agency (NIA) official told NewsArc on condition of anonymity. Raids in Faridabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir have unearthed over 2,900 kg of NPK fertiliser-turned-explosives, assault rifles, and timing devices from hideouts linked to the group. Eight arrests, including three physicians and a Mewat-based cleric, Maulvi Ishtiyaq, have followed, with mobile data showing reconnaissance trips to the Red Fort as far back as January—targeting a Republic Day spectacular that could have dwarfed the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Telegram emerged as the digital backbone, where the duo joined radical channels operated by foreign entities, plotting blasts at sensitive sites like Ayodhya and Varanasi during Diwali—plans scuttled by heightened security, leading to the improvised Red Fort hit. A serving Pakistan Army general and an ISI operative even met the suspects in Turkey, per intercepted chats, underscoring Islamabad’s hand in outsourcing terror to Ankara.
Turkey, long accused of fanning Kashmir separatism through propaganda and drone supplies to Pakistan, has vehemently denied involvement. Its Directorate of Communications labelled the reports a “malicious disinformation campaign” aimed at souring bilateral ties, while extending condolences and reaffirming its anti-terror stance. Yet, the arrests paint a damning picture: suspects dispersed post-Turkey with target lists, using forged documents for the blast vehicle—its New Seelampur registration a sham.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chairing a high-level Cabinet Committee on Security meeting Wednesday, branded the attack a “heinous assault by anti-national forces” and vowed no mercy for perpetrators, echoing vows after the 2025 Pahalgam killings. Home Minister Amit Shah, visiting the site and hospitals, promised personal oversight, as Delhi Police invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Security has been ratcheted up nationwide, with alerts in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and the Red Fort shuttered for 72 hours.
As forensics sift through charred remnants—not a “fully developed bomb” but a desperate trigger in panic after a Faridabad bust—the nation grapples with a chilling reality: terror’s new face is scrubbed, suited, and schooled. Families in Pulwama mourn Nabi as a “prodigy lost to whispers,” but for investigators, the Turkey trail signals a pivot in global jihad—from Pakistan’s shadows to Erdogan’s backyard. With serial blasts averted but scars fresh, India braces for fallout, demanding Ankara’s unmasking of the handlers who turned healers into harbingers of death.
NewsArc Bureau. Additional reporting by field correspondents in Delhi and Srinagar. Updates as probe deepens.
