"Biryani", "Daawat": Codes Used By White Collar Terror Module On Telegram

The members of the white collar terror module that the security agencies busted in Haryana's Faridabad used the secure messaging app Telegram to make terror plans using the names of common dishes to avoid drawing attention, sources said.

The four doctors - whose licences to practice medicine now stand cancelled - chatted about their favourite meals on Telegram, just that the food they talked about had nothing to do with food, but killing.

The terror module comprising Muzamil Shakeel, Uma Un Nabi, Shaheen Saeed and Adeel Ahmad Rather used code words like "biryani" and "daawat" to communicate terror plans in end-to-end encrypted app Telegram, sources said.

"Biryani" meant explosive material, and "daawat" referred to a specific event, sources said.

Investigators said that after readying the explosives for a terror strike in crowded places, they shared a message in Telegram: "Biryani is ready, get ready for daawat."

The mastermind behind the white collar terror module has been identified as Imam Irfan Ahmad, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian. He allegedly set the doctors on the path of terror by radicalising them, sources said.

Irfan Ahmad visited a hospital in Srinagar in 2020 to seek treatment for his child when he ran into Nabi, the suicide bomber who drove the car bomb to Chandni Chowk. The two exchanged numbers and Ahmad continued to visit Nabi for follow-up treatment of his son, sources said.

Nabi, fully prepared and radicalised by Ahmad, was finally released into the public to set up the white collar terror module that can evade suspicion. Nabi identified the other doctors as having "potential" and brought them to Ahmad, while Ahmad kept sharing extremist and terror views on Telegram.

The big reveal came when all of them met terrorists of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad somewhere in south Kashmir region, sources said. Ahmad was the one who arranged the meeting.

The doctors then received two AK series assault rifles from the terrorists. Both assault rifles have been recovered, including one from a car used by Shaheen Saeed.

Sources said Saeed told investigators that she came in touch with the other doctors six months before the blast near the Red Fort, and allegedly did not know the group's intentions.

The names of these doctors have been removed from the Indian Medical Register (IMR) and the National Medical Register (NMR), which means they can no longer be called doctors or practice in the country.

The NIA yesterday arrested another terror accused, Amir Rashid Ali, from Delhi. Ali was the man who bought the Hyundai i20 used as a car bomb by Nabi. He also helped the doctor in preparing the improvised explosives device (IED), sources said.

Faridabad's Al Falah University, where all the white collar terror suspects worked, is under investigation on many fronts from financial to administrative. The NIA has also seized a vehicle registered in the name of the suicide bomber.