Pulwama house of Delhi Blast accused razed
SRINAGAR: In a significant follow-up action to the deadly blast near Delhi’s Red Fort, security forces have demolished the Pulwama residence of Umar Nabi, the man identified as driving the explosive-laden vehicle that claimed 13 lives earlier this week.
The demolition was carried out during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, they said.
The car blast near Red Fort on Monday night claimed 13 lives and injured several others. Umar was behind the wheels of the Hyundai i20 that was laden with explosives. His identity was confirmed after DNA samples collected from the blast site matched with those of Dr Umar’s mother.
Umar, who was known as an academically accomplished professional in his circle, allegedly turned radical over the past two years. Investigators said he had joined several radical messaging groups on social media. Further details were awaited.
Meanwhile, the members of the terror module under scanner for the deadly blast near the Red Fort, relied on an unusual yet effective method of communication to avoid detection — through unsent emails kept as drafts.
According to investigators, the suspects, including Dr Umar Un Nabi, who is believed to have driven the car that exploded, and his associates, Dr Muzammil Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Shahid, communicated using a single email account accessible to all in the module.
Instead of sending, they saved emails as drafts, a police source said. The intended recipient would log into the same account, read the draft, and delete it immediately, leaving no digital trail of communication, the source said.
This method was chosen to evade surveillance and prevent interception of their conversations, as nothing was transmitted across networks, police said.
Officials said the technique reflects a high level of caution and planning within the module, allowing them to coordinate activities related to the conspiracy without relying on traceable channels.
Members of the terror module were also in constant contact, mainly through a Swiss communication application called Threema and other such apps.
They allegedly used the encrypted messaging app to plan and coordinate the terror conspiracy while also staying in touch with their foreign handlers, police said.
“Unlike conventional messaging platforms, Threema does not require a phone number or email ID for registration, making it extremely difficult to trace the users,” a source said.
The app assigns each user a unique ID not linked to any mobile number or SIM card and offers end-to-end encryption with an option to be run on private servers.
Investigators suspect the accused doctors set up a private Threema server to communicate securely and evade detection. This server was allegedly used to share sensitive documents, maps, and layouts related to the Delhi blast conspiracy.
“Detailed planning, including location sharing and task allocation, is believed to have been conducted through this private network,” a police source added.
Threema also allows messages to be deleted from both ends and does not store metadata, further complicating forensic retrieval, the source added.
Preliminary findings suggest the app was used to transfer restricted material and coded messages among the members of the terror module, officials said.
