Red Fort blast accused Umar Nabi’s house razed in Pulwama
Srinagar, Nov 14: The house of Red Fort blast accused Dr Umar Nabi was demolished overnight in his native village of Koil in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, a day after officials identified him as the man who allegedly drove the explosive-laden car that blew up outside the Red Fort Metro station in New Delhi on Monday, officials said on Friday.
The two-storey house, where most of Nabi’s immediate family — including his parents, brother and sister-in-law — lived, was reduced to rubble after security forces evacuated all residents. The house, which stood beside a small front yard, was brought down using controlled explosives in the early hours of Friday.
Officials said the action was part of the wider investigation into the Red Fort blast that killed at least 13 people and injured more than 20. DNA samples recovered at the blast site, investigators say, matched those of Umar’s mother, confirming his presence inside the vehicle at the time of the explosion.
While the Jammu and Kashmir administration has in the past attached houses under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), full-scale demolitions of homes belonging to terror suspects or their families have been rare. Before Friday, the only previous instance in recent months occurred in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in April.
On April 24, security forces demolished the home of Adil Ahmad Thoker, a suspect from Bijbehara. Over the following three days, joint teams carried out similar demolitions at the homes of nine more accused or relatives of wanted terrorists, ranging from an 18-year-old who had joined terrorism just months earlier to a man from Kupwara who crossed into Pakistan 35 years ago for arms training and never returned.
Dr Umar Nabi had been working at the School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre at Al Falah University in Faridabad. Two other doctors associated with the same institution — Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganai, also from Koil, and Dr Shaheen Shahid Ansari from Lucknow — were picked up by police in the days leading up to the blast. Investigators are examining whether the three were part of a coordinated module, especially given that the Faridabad terror bust earlier this year unearthed nearly 2,900 kg of explosives.
The demolition of the Nabi residence marks a significant escalation in the ongoing crackdown surrounding the Delhi blast. Security agencies have conducted several raids across Kashmir since Monday, detaining multiple individuals and seizing digital devices believed to contain encrypted communications.
