NIA widens net: 200 people flagged in white-collar terror module probe

A review of call records and online transactions linked to the three key accused in the Faridabad-based white-collar terror module has placed nearly 200 people under the scanner, rattling investigating agencies. The list includes imams of madrasas, local shopkeepers, diagnostics centre owners and current and former students and colleagues from Al-Falah University.

The three accused — deceased bomber Dr Umar and arrested doctors Muzammil and Shaheen — had reportedly made online payments to locals as part of efforts to strengthen their network and build support.

“The trio had been trying to build a strong network always ready to help anybody in need. Students of the university reveal how they tried to take every Kashmiri student under their wings and vacating their own rooms to help them stay. Even local villagers at Dhauj too were helped by them through online transactions. Every single person found connected through a call, message or transaction to them is being probed,” said a senior NIA official.

The latest name to emerge in the probe is that of a local doctor from Dhauj village, who has reportedly been detained after CCTV footage surfaced showing Umar at his clinic. The doctor runs a small clinic and medical store near the Al-Falah University campus, and Umar was said to be a regular visitor, often assisting with patients.

Investigators suspect the medical store may have served as a communication and coordination point for Umar during his stay in Faridabad, especially since it had no CCTV coverage.

The NIA and Delhi Police Special Cell have recovered new CCTV footage dated October 29, captured by a nearby shop camera. The footage shows Umar entering the clinic carrying two mobile phones and a backpack. He is seen plugging one phone into a charger and then holding a 20-minute conversation with the detained doctor. After the doctor stepped out briefly, Umar remained seated inside. He visited the clinic “almost daily”, telling colleagues he was there to “discuss a few patients”.

Umar was reportedly in constant touch with the Dhauj doctor in the days leading up to the blast. Both the clinic computer and the doctor's mobile phone have been sent for forensic analysis to retrieve deleted messages and emails. Agencies are also probing whether the clinic was used to store explosive materials or conduct cash-linked transactions connected to the module.

Residents of Dhauj said they had seen Umar visiting the clinic frequently but “never suspected anything unusual.”

With the detention of the Dhauj doctor, the number of individuals held in the case has risen to six, including three doctors, a cleric, a fertiliser dealer and a suspected hawala conduit. Investigators are still piecing together how a group of educated professionals allegedly turned a quiet college town into the nerve centre of a deadly terror plot.