The November 10, 2025 blast at Red Fort, which sent ripples across the national capital, was a suicide bombing. The accused doctor, Umar Un Nabi, detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) from inside the Hyundai i20 he had been driving, killing 15 people, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) concluded in its chargesheet.

DNA evidence confirms Umar was inside the car

As per the agency, Nabi, a doctor and assistant professor at Al Falah University in Faridabad, was inside the car when the devastating explosion occurred and activated the IED through a command mechanism.

A shot from the site from where the IED went off

DNA analysis of biological material recovered from the blast site confirmed that Nabi was inside the vehicle when the IED went off, NIA said. The 7500-page chargesheet called the blast the culmination of a nearly two-year conspiracy allegedly led by Nabi. The NIA has branded him as the alleged mastermind and ‘operational in-charge’ of the revived Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) module, a designated offshoot of Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The probe indicates that the attack was allegedly planned over an extended period rather than being a spontaneous act. The chargesheet traces reconnaissance of the Red Fort to December 2023, when Nabi and other accused allegedly visited the site repeatedly.

The NIA sleuths alleged that the historic monument was chosen because it was viewed as a ‘symbol of Indian state.’

Attack allegedly executed amid fear of arrests

The NIA alleged in the chargesheet that Nabi had been working since early 2022 to revive the dormant AGuH module and establish a network of radicalised people capable of executing terrorist activities.

However, the agency said the attack was not carried out on a pre-decided date. The chargesheet mentions that Nabi allegedly accelerated the plan after a string of arrests in Srinagar, fearing that the investigators were closing in on the conspiracy.

It also came to pass that the vehicle used in the attack had allegedly been converted into a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED). The probe also unearthed chemicals and laboratory equipment, which, according to the NIA, indicated preparations for manufacturing and storing explosives.

When the material recovered from the blast site was subjected to forensic examination, traces of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and ammonium nitrate were detected in it. According to the agency, the evidence indicated that the device had been initiated from inside the vehicle through a command mechanism.

Extremist literature under scanner

In the chargesheet, the ideological material followed by members of the module were also underscored. The Lone Mujahid Pocket Book/How to Become an Assassin remains central to the NIA’s probe, and the agency has linked it to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The agency said the document contained operational guidance on explosives, weapons, covert operations and IEDs, while also advocating lone-wolf and suicide attacks.

Among the other literature recovered during the probe allegedly included Definition of Jihad, The Requirements of Jihad, The 21 Aims and Objectives of Jihad, 39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad and 44 Ways to Support Jihad.

The NIA has alleged that the material was intended at legitimising armed violence, rejecting existing political systems and promoting Jihad as a religious duty. If the agency is to be believed, Nabi played a key role in radicalising recruits, organising secret meetings, facilitating terror training, arranging funds, procuring illegal weapons and securing locations for the module.

Members of the outfit communicated through encrypted platforms such as Signal, while clandestine meetings were held at locations across Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi-NCR, the agency said.