Kashmir is focus of arrests after Delhi car blast linked to ‘terror module’ | India
Police have carried out raids and made several arrests in India’s Kashmir region following a car explosion in Delhi that killed 13 people.
On Wednesday, the Indian government confirmed that it was treating the explosion as a “terrorist incident” carried out by “anti-national forces”. The explosion occurred in front of one of India’s most important monuments during rush hour on Monday evening.
Eight people were initially confirmed dead, but the figure rose to 13 on Friday as more victims died from their injuries. This is one of the deadliest terror attacks to target India’s capital in more than a decade.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi called the incident a “conspiracy”, while home minister Amit Shah promised to “find all the culprits behind this incident”.
Authorities have not yet made an official statement on who they believe is behind the attack. But unofficially, Indian investigators said investigations were continuing into the “interstate and transnational terrorism module” that police had targeted in the days before the explosion.
An investigation into the group began last month after posters promoting the Pakistan-backed armed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad emerged in Srinagar, the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir. The region has long been disputed by India and Pakistan, and since the 1990s the Indian-controlled south has faced a militant insurgency backed by Pakistan.
As a result of the investigations, 7 people were arrested, including two Kashmiri doctors working in other states of India. Police said that 2,900 kg of explosives, as well as chemicals, detonators and assault rifles, were seized during a raid on one of the doctors’ houses in Faridabad city of Haryana state, and that they believed they were prepared for a multi-target attack.
Although they have yet to directly link the group to the Delhi blast, police have described the network as “a white-collar ecosystem involving radicalized professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers operating in Pakistan and other countries.”
The day after the arrests, a white Hyundai car drove from Haryana to central Delhi. After waiting for a while in a parking lot in the city’s lively old district, the driver pulled out into heavy traffic on Monday evening. Soon the car exploded with great force, sending bodies flying into the air and setting fire to surrounding cars and rickshaws.
A case was registered under India’s anti-terrorism laws on Tuesday and the investigation was taken over by India’s National Investigation Agency, which oversees terrorism cases. Kashmir police have since stepped up raids and arrests across the region.
Investigators claimed that the car was driven by another Kashmiri doctor from Koil village, 32 kilometers south of Srinigar. One of the doctors arrested the other day was also from Koil and both
He works in the same medical college in Faridabad.
Koil residents described both men as successful doctors known for their impressive academic records and expressed shock at the allegations against them. The two families denied knowing each other.
Police arrived at the alleged driver’s home just a few hours after the explosion, searched the building, seized all cell phones, and detained several family members for questioning. Although the doctor had not officially confirmed his involvement, authorities demolished his home on Friday morning in an apparent case of “bulldozer justice”; This was a common but illegal tactic used by Indian authorities to punish those accused of crimes against the state.
According to Kashmir police, the seven persons arrested earlier in the terror network case had links with both Jaish-e-Mohammad and Islamic State-linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind operating in Kashmir. This could not be verified by the Guardian.
India’s response to the Delhi blast has been markedly restrained, unlike the last terrorist attack on its soil. When more than 20 Hindu tourists were shot dead in Kashmir’s Pahalgam in April, the Indian government blamed Pakistan and launched cross-border drone and missile strikes. Pakistan responded in kind, bringing the two countries to the brink of all-out war.
Afterwards, the Indian government unequivocally stated that any further terrorist attacks by Pakistan would be considered an “act of war”. But the more measured language used by Modi’s cabinet this week is seen by some as reflecting uncertainty about who might be behind the latest attack and the alleged broader terror plot.
Kashmir police said they remained “on high alert to prevent further incidents”. A senior official added: “Multiple agencies have conducted raids to disrupt terrorist activities. The investigation is ongoing and we are closely monitoring any suspicious activity.”
