Kolkata: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in a joint operation with the West Bengal Police, arrested an MBBS student from Al-Falah University, Faridabad, in connection with the car explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort Metro Station earlier this week, officials said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Nisar Alam, was detained from Dalkhola in North Dinajpur district on Friday. Alam and his family have been residing in Punjab’s Ludhiana for several years, though their ancestral home remains in Dalkhola, police sources said.

According to officials, Alam had recently travelled to Dalkhola with his mother and sister to attend a family function. His mobile phone location was traced to the area, following which NIA teams moved in and arrested him.

After the arrest, Alam was taken to Islampur Police Station for preliminary interrogation and later shifted to Siliguri in Darjeeling district. He is likely to be taken to Delhi on transit remand on Saturday, officials added.

Residents of Konal village, where Alam’s ancestral house is located, expressed shock over his arrest, describing him as “soft-spoken and well-mannered.” “We could never imagine his involvement in insurgency activities,” a local resident said.

The arrest comes amid intensified investigations into the Red Fort blast that killed 12 people and injured dozens. NIA teams have conducted multiple searches at Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where Alam was a student, and questioned at least 52 persons, including doctors, in recent days.

Authorities are also probing the alleged links of three doctors — Muzammil Shakeel, Shaheen Shahid and Umar Mohammed — suspected of running a Jaish-e-Mohammed module linked to the explosion.

With inputs from IANS