Terrorist Lived In Rented Room In Haryana's Nuh Before Delhi Blast: Sources

The terrorist who blew himself up in Delhi had rented a room in Haryana's Nuh shortly before the 10/11 blast, sources said. Umar Mohammad, allegedly linked to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group, was the driver of the i20 car that exploded near the Red Fort, killing 13 people and injuring nearly two dozen others.

Delhi Police has been conducting searches in Nuh over the past five days, with a team being stationed yesterday outside the Hidayat Colony.

The probe into the terrorist's whereabouts has revealed that he stayed in the rented room in the colony for around 10 days before he carried out the blast on November 10.

Mohammad left his rented room in his i20 car with the explosive on the day of the blast, sources said, with CCTV cameras installed at a diagnostics centre in Nuh capturing his car entering the colony. However, it's not known yet when the car left the colony and which route the terrorist took.

The house on the Delhi-Alwar road, where Mohammad stayed, is owned by the sister-in-law of Shoaib, an electrician at Al Falah University in Faridabad, where the terror suspects used to work. Shoaib, who had arranged the accommodation for him, is now in police custody.

Neither the neighbours nor the intelligence unit deployed in Nuh were aware of him living in that house, sources said.

Two prior CCTV footage confirm Mohammad's presence in Nuh before the blast—one showed him crossing a toll plaza in Firozpur Jhirka. In another, he was spotted trying to withdraw money from an ATM on the Biwan-Pahadi Road. He had also visited Mewat in Nuh, during which he possibly came in touch with some MBBS students from his college, sources said.

Three of Mohammad's colleagues—Shaheen Saeed, Muzammil Shakeel, and Adil Rather, all doctors at the Al Falah University in Faridabad—have been arrested in connection with the blast, and a probe is underway to determine if they were planning to execute a serial blast across the National Capital Region (NCR).

The police recovered nearly 3,000 kg of explosives and bomb-making materials from houses rented by the suspects, indicating a nefarious design that was being prepared by the Jaish-linked terror module. A rifle and ammunition were also found in Saeed's car, with her recent passport verification pointing to her potential plans to flee the country.