NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the Red Fort area car blast case in Delhi has found that a chargesheeted accused, linked to an offshoot of global terrorist outfit Al-Qaida, allegedly misused an artificial intelligence (AI) platform for “terror engineering”, official sources said on Sunday. They said the accused persons had also made rocket Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and tested them in the Qazigund forest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
The glaring findings are part of a voluminous 7,500-page chargesheet filed by the NIA on May 14 in connection with the high-intensity vehicle-borne IED blast that rocked the national capital on November 10 last year. The chargesheet, submitted before a special NIA court here, details what officials described as a meticulous, “almost laboratory-grade” approach adopted by the accused pin the fabrication and use IEDs.
One of the charge-sheeted accused emerged as the “in-house engineer” of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) interim terror module, linked to Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). AQIS and all its offshoots have been notified as terrorist organisations by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The accused, Jasir Bilal Wani, had stayed at the Al Falah University campus in Faridabad, Haryana, on two to three occasions during 2024-25 to provide “technical support” for the conspiracy, the chargesheet said. The University’s role came under the scrutiny of law enforcement agencies after the probe revealed that three doctors employed there were allegedly involved in the blast. Jasir was introduced to Dr Umer un Nabi, another key accused and the driver of the explosive-laden car, by Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather. The explosion had resulted in the death of 11 people and left several others injured, according to the chargesheet.
The NIA findings state that Adeel was instrumental in supplying IED ingredients, including powdered sugar and potassium nitrate in the form of NPK fertiliser, to Jasir, while Dr Umer is said to have conducted research on improvised rocket IEDs and provided guidance. The chargesheet brings on records that Jasir had turned to YouTube and ChatGPT, searching for “how to make a rocket and in what proportion should the mixture be”, highlighting the alleged misuse of digital and AI platforms for terror engineering.
Jasir allegedly prepared rocket IEDs and tested them in the Qazigund forest along with Dr Umer, Dr Muzammil Shakeel, and other co-accused, the chargesheet mentions. Remnants of the devices were recovered from deep inside the forest by NIA teams during extensive field investigations based on disclosures made by Jasir. According to the chargesheet, Dr Umer, seeing the potential in Jasir, also provided him two drones (UAVs) with instructions to improve their flying range and payload capacity, the NIA probe reveals.
He had planned to weaponise the drones by fitting them with explosives to carry out attacks on security installations in Kashmir and other parts of the country, it said. In another instance, the group tested a cylinder-based IED in the Youshmurg forest near Mattan in Anantnag, involving Dr Umer, Jasir, Dr Muzammil, and Dr Adeel, the chargesheet states.
The remnants of these tests were later seized by NIA teams from the locations at the instance of Dr Adeel. In a controlled simulation conducted by the NIA as part of an investigation, Jasir demonstrated his ability to fabricate functional rocket IEDs using commercially available materials before a bomb detection and disposal squad expert team, sources said. The most chilling forensic finding relates to the trigger mechanism of the vehicle-borne IED used by Dr Umer, they said.
Between December 2023 and January 2024, Jasir allegedly placed orders through his Flipkart account for various components used in trigger mechanisms, including a sensor-inductive proximity switch, a heat gun, a piezo plate, a remote control relay-switch RF (radio frequency) transmitter and receiver kit, a flameless rechargeable pocket lighter, a soldering kit, and an LED electronic kit, according to the NIA chargesheet. The procurement was funded by Dr Umer, with Jasir receiving the items through cash-on-delivery orders, it said. These components were later assembled and handed over by Jasir to Dr Umer for use in making IEDs.
Eventually, Dr Umer used the trigger mechanism to detonate the VB-IED, leading to the blast near the Red Fort area, the chargehseet said. The NIA found that the accused had also fabricated and tested various types of IEDs. The explosive used in the blast was Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), which was clandestinely manufactured after procuring constituent ingredients and conducting experiments to perfect the explosive mixture.
Earlier, the Srinagar police had busted the blast-linked “doctor” or “white-collar” module involving medical professionals. A wider “jihadi conspiracy” was later exposed through a detailed scientific and forensic investigation as the accused, some of whom were radicalised medical professionals, were found to be inspired by AQIS/AGuH ideology to carry out the deadly attack, the NIA chargesheet said.
