Delhi Blast Suspects Used 'Dead Drop' Emails To Communicate: Sources

The terror suspects being probed in connection with the 10/11 Delhi blast used a special method called 'dead drop' emails to communicate, sources said. This is how the arrested doctors, the investigators believe, planned their terror activities.

At least 13 people were killed and nearly two dozen injured after an i20 car exploded near the Red Fort on November 10. Doctors Muzammil Shakeel, Umar Mohammad, and Shaheed Saeed are among the doctors under police lens over the blast.

They are now being probed over possible links to a terror module linked to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group.

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The doctors used a shared email account to communicate among themselves and with others, sources said. They typed their plans in the drafts folder, and others logged in to read them, they added. The emails were never sent, making it hard to trace the digital footprint. This method is known as the 'dead drop' email technique, often used by terror and spy networks.

Other apps like Threema and Telegram and several other untraceable platforms were also used by them for communication purposes to keep their activities hidden and safe from surveillance, sources said.

Umar Mohammad has been confirmed as the driver of the i20 that exploded.

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The other two doctors were arrested just before the blast, with the Jammu and Kashmir police eventually busting their terror module. Nearly 3,000 kg explosives and bomb-making materials were also found during raids at places rented by them near Delhi. The cops also found a rifle and ammunition in Saeed's car.

The accused had been planning blasts in Delhi at their secret meetings in Muzammil's room at the Al Falah University, sources had earlier said, suggesting that Mohammad went ahead with the blast out of panic after the arrest of his associates.