How a Jaish network was uncovered

On October 19, 2025, when Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Police began an investigation into Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) posters threatening attacks on security forces that appeared in Srinagar’s Nowgam area, a terror network involving Kashmiri doctors was exposed. Persistent police work, including analysis of CCTV footage, led to the identification and arrest of three local overground workers (OGWs) with prior records of stone-pelting. Their interrogation led the police to a cleric and former paramedic named Maulvi Irfan Ahmad from Shopian.

Irfan’s interrogation revealed a wider Jaish-e-Mohammed network operating across multiple states, including J&K, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. He had allegedly used his position as an imam to radicalise educated professionals, including doctors. Maulvi Irfan’s phone contacts included several doctors, raising police suspicion. His interrogation, along with that of another arrested individual, Zameer Ahmad Ahanger, exposed a network of radicalised medical professionals. Based on these leads, police conducted a series of raids across different states.

Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather was arrested in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where he had moved after working at Government Medical College (GMC), Anantnag. An AK-47 rifle was recovered from his old locker at GMC, and his interrogation led the police to Dr Muzammil Ganaie at Al-Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana.Raids on two houses rented by Ganaie in Faridabad uncovered a massive cache of explosives — nearly 2,900 kg of materials, including ammonium nitrate, two AK-series rifles, and other bomb-making equipment.

The multi-agency crackdown caused panic among the network members, which, it is believed, led another doctor, Dr Umar Ul Nabi, who worked with Drs Adeel and Muzammil, to prematurely detonate a vehicle-borne explosive device near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10, 2025, resulting in 13 fatalities and his own death. On November 10, 2025, at about 6:52 pm, a white Hyundai i20 car parked near the Red Fort Metro rail station in Delhi exploded, killing at least eight people and injuring many more. Reportedly, a probable reason was that its driver, Dr Umar Nabi, whose accomplices were already under investigation and some of whom had been arrested, may have panicked and prematurely caused the detonation of the device.

Immediately afterwards, Delhi Police, forensic teams, and fire engines rushed to the scene. CCTV footage from the scene and nearby areas was collected to trace the car’s movements and ownership. On November 11, 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs handed over the probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), indicating that it was being treated as a terror attack. J&K Police collected DNA samples from Nabi’s family in Pulwama for matching with the remains from the blast site. On November 12, 2025, DNA results confirmed that Dr Umar Nabi was the driver and sole occupant of the exploded car. It was revealed that Drs Nabi and Ganaie had visited the Red Fort in January 2025, possibly for reconnaissance. A red Ford EcoSport car linked to the accused was also found in Haryana. On November 13, 2025, J&K Police’s Counter Intelligence Kashmir wing conducted further raids at 13 locations across the Kashmir Valley in connection with the terror module.

On November 15, 2025, an explosion occurred inside the Nowgam police station in Srinagar while police and forensic teams were handling the seized explosive materials brought from Faridabad as evidence in the Red Fort case, resulting in nine deaths and numerous injuries among police personnel and civilians.It is believed that Nabi’s panicked actions inadvertently set off an explosion and thereby prevented a larger, planned series of attacks in many other parts of the country.

Wider investigations also revealed Dr Shaheen Saeed, a doctor and teacher from Lucknow, who raised ?20 lakh for procuring raw materials for IEDs; Amir Rashid Ali, arrested for arranging the Hyundai i20 car used in the attack and helping prepare the explosives; and Jasir Bilal Wani, a technician tasked with exploring ways to attach explosives to drones. Authorities also reportedly questioned over 50 doctors in Kashmir in connection with the case, including Drs Sajjad Ahmed and Sajad Malik. The doctors were reportedly radicalised through online channels such as Telegram and through trips to countries like Turkey. Funds were allegedly raised under the guise of social or charitable causes.

Al-Falah University, a private university in Faridabad, Haryana, established in 2014 by the Al-Falah Charitable Trust, is headed by Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, chairman-cum-chancellor of Al-Falah University and founder of the Al-Falah Group. While it aims to provide “quality education, promote research, and prepare students for successful careers” and is officially recognised by the University Grants Commission, it has been a hub of Kashmiri doctors involved in terror.

White-collar terrorists are certainly not new in the Kashmir Valley. One classic case is Yasin Malik, head of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), who spearheaded separatist ideology and violent activities in the Valley since 1988, when the term ‘white-collar terror’ was not current. He was the mastermind behind the purging of Kashmiri Pandits and was responsible for their genocide and the exodus of at least 400,000 from the Kashmir Valley. He and his colleagues were known to boast about murdering Indian Air Force officers and many innocent non-Muslims. After all that, they masqueraded as ‘separatists’ and enjoyed being hosted at taxpayers’ expense by Congress governments.

It should also not be forgotten that political leaders ruling J&K were responsible for allowing the massacre and purge of the Kashmiri Pandits and who, after five years of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, got elected again in 2024 by the decision of the Supreme Court, and are ruling at a time when Pakistani terrorists massacred tourists in Pahalgam, with their presence being known to and accommodated by local shopkeepers and pony operators.

A vital course correction for India’s security by New Delhi, albeit very right-wing sounding, should be:

 (a) reverting J&K to long-term President’s Rule;

 (b) ensuring long-term, organised, and effective de-radicalisation;

 (c) increasing permanent Army presence in the Kashmir Valley and hinterland, with many more cantonments; and

 (d) ensuring that elections are held in J&K only when there are sufficient Kashmiri Pandit and/or Dogra candidates.

The author, Col Anil Bhat, VSM (Retd), a strategic affairs analyst and former Defence Ministry and Indian Army spokesperson; views are personal