Red Fort Blast Probe Uncovers Major J&K Recruitment Network Behind Faridabad Module

New Delhi, Nov 2025 : The ongoing investigation into the Red Fort car blast has revealed that the plot was rooted in an extensive recruitment and radicalisation network operating out of Jammu and Kashmir. This network, investigators say, eventually gave rise to the Faridabad module that executed the attack in the National Capital Region.

According to officials, the police have largely established that operatives from the Faridabad module carried out the bombing. However, intelligence agencies have now traced the origins of the conspiracy to a structured recruitment campaign launched in Jammu and Kashmir several months earlier.

At the centre of this operation was Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, a paramedical staffer at GMC Srinagar who also served as an Imam at a mosque in the Nawakadal area. Investigators say Irfan played a key role in indoctrinating young students, particularly those enrolled in medical colleges. His access to students and his influence over them explains why several individuals associated with the module turned out to be doctors or medical professionals.

The trail began after the Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a separate probe into a Jaish-e-Mohammad module. Posters linked to the terror outfit surfaced across Srinagar on October 27, prompting authorities to intensify surveillance. Acting on initial leads, police arrested three overground workers, who eventually revealed Irfan’s involvement in the wider plot.

Based on their disclosures, the police tracked down Dr. Adeel Ahmad Rather and Zameer Ahanga, both said to be close associates of Irfan. The investigation then led them to Dr. Muzammil, who had been working at Al Fatah University in Faridabad and was believed to be part of the module operating in the NCR region. Links between the suspected bomber, Dr. Umar, and Irfan also surfaced during this stage of the probe.

Officials describe the network as one of the most organised modules they have come across in recent years. The group had been planning coordinated attacks across India, and the scale of their preparations became evident from the massive quantities of explosive material seized. In one raid, police recovered 350 kg of ammonium nitrate, while another crackdown yielded 2,563 kg of the same substance—amounts that point to a much larger terror agenda.

Security agencies say Irfan was hand-picked by Jaish-e-Mohammad due to his long-standing ideological alignment with the outfit. He frequently engaged with young individuals, using religious influence and targeted messaging to radicalise them. His methods included the dissemination of videos featuring JeM leaders, which formed a core part of his indoctrination drive. Investigators describe it as a “well-oiled network” with clearly defined roles for each recruit.

While Irfan spearheaded the radicalisation in Jammu and Kashmir, operatives such as Umar and Muzammil helped expand the network into Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and eventually the NCR. It has also emerged that Irfan maintained constant communication with handlers based in Afghanistan through multiple Telegram accounts. These accounts served both as communication channels and as platforms to spread Jaish propaganda among potential recruits.

A particularly concerning revelation from the probe is that Irfan had proposed forming a women’s wing of the outfit within India. This wing was intended to focus on radicalisation and recruitment among women. He appointed Dr. Shaheen Saeed to head the initiative. Investigators say she made several trips to Jammu and Kashmir, meeting Irfan and receiving instructions on expanding the network. Her mandate was to recruit as many women as possible and to spread the organisation’s influence beyond the region.

Officials believe that in the first phase of their expansion, the module concentrated heavily on Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. Over time, they planned to widen their footprint across several states. The busting of this network, they say, has prevented a series of coordinated attacks that were being planned nationwide.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)