New Delhi: The sophisticated “white-collar” terror module busted recently by Jammu and Kashmir Police had been scouting for a suicide bomber since last year, with its alleged mastermind, Dr Umar Nabi, driving the plan, officials said on Sunday.

According to investigators, interrogation of the arrested accused revealed that Umar, believed to have died in the car explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10, was a “hardcore radical” who insisted that deploying a suicide bomber was key to their operations.

Following these disclosures, Srinagar Police detained a youth identified as Jasir alias ‘Danish’ from Qazigund in south Kashmir. Jasir, who holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, admitted to meeting members of the so-called “Doctor module” in Kulgam last year before being taken to a rented accommodation at Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where the network operated.

He reportedly told investigators that while some members wanted him to serve as an overground worker for the proscribed JeM, Umar had tried to indoctrinate him into becoming a suicide bomber over several months — a plan that eventually collapsed in April when Jasir backed out, citing financial issues and religious objections.

Officials said the revelation adds a dangerous new dimension to the probe into the Jaish-e-Mohammed-linked interstate terror network spanning Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

Umar, a 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama, is suspected to have been the most radicalised operative in the group and was planning a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack, possibly around the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary on December 6, police added.

Investigations suggest that Umar and co-accused Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, both affiliated with Al-Falah University, visited Turkiye in 2021, where they allegedly met Jaish operatives. On returning, they began procuring large quantities of chemicals — including 360 kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and sulphur — that were stored near the university campus.

The plan reportedly unravelled after police arrested Ganaie and seized the explosive materials, prompting panic in Umar and leading to the premature blast near the Red Fort that killed 13 people.

The terror network was initially uncovered after Jaish posters appeared across Srinagar’s Nowgam area on October 19. CCTV footage led to the arrest of three local suspects — Arif Nisar Dar, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar — whose questioning exposed a wider link to Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, an Imam and former paramedic from Shopian, accused of radicalising the doctor group and supplying extremist material.

With inputs from PTI