Delhi Blast Link In Maharashtra? Woman With Fake IAS Identity Arrested

A woman living in Maharashtra's Sambhajinagar (previously Aurangabad) is being investigated for possible links to the recent blast near Delhi's Red Fort. The police in Sambhajinagar has told a court that the woman -- who was living with a fake identity of an IAS officer -- had links with Pakistan army and also with people in Afghanistan. 

She has been arrested from the luxury hotel she was staying at.

The police claimed that the woman - who calls herself Kalpana Bhagwat -- was in Delhi at the time the bomb blasts took place.

During the hearing for her remand today, the police said she was staying at the hotel for the last six months but was present in Delhi at the time of the blasts.

The probe will focus on determining if she is a threat to national security, and her possible links to the Delhi blast case will be thoroughly examined, the police said while seeking her remand. 

During the search at the hotel, the police have found that she had a fake IAS appointment letter from 2017, and irregularities were found in her Aadhaar card.

Sources said the initial investigations have made it clear that large sums of money were transferred to the woman's bank account from the accounts of her boyfriend, Ashraf Khalil, who is in Afghanistan), and his brother, Aved Khalil who is in Pakistan.

A check of Rs 19 crore and another check for Rs 6 lakh were recovered from her room, the police said. 

The police told the court that the woman had 10 international phone numbers, some of which referenced Afghanistan and Peshawar. 

Numbers belonging to Pakistan army officers -- including numbers for the Peshawar Army Cantonment Board and the Afghanistan Embassy office - have been recovered, the court was told.  A number saved as 'Home Minister OSD' was also recovered from her.

The police said WhatsApp chats with an individual in Pakistan were found to have been deleted from her phone. 

Two officials from the Intelligence Bureau have been interrogating the woman for the past three days. In the documents recovered, her name has been mentioned as Kalpana Bhagwat, but investigation are in progress to establish her true identity, the police said.

The court in Sambhajinagar has sent the woman to police custody for 10 days.

The Delhi Blast

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the blast near Red Fort in which 15 people died and more than 12 were injured.

The blast in a Hyundai i20 car was engineered and executed by white collar terrorists, investigators have said.

The key accused have been identified as Muzammil Shakeel Ganai, Adeel Ahmed Rather and his brother Muzaffar Ahmed Rather, Kashmiri doctors who also worked at Al-Falah University, and Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay, also a Kashmir resident.

The car was driven by Umar-un-Nabi, a Kashmiri doctor.

 (With inputs from Mohsin Sheikh)