Doctor-Terrorist Was "In Dire Need Of Money" A Month Before Delhi Blast

In yet another revelation in the Delhi blast probe, investigators have discovered a trail of WhatsApp chats that reveal one of the key accused's desperation for money.

The chats involve Adeel Rather, who is currently in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the blast near the iconic Red Fort. The messages have Rather saying that he was in "dire need of money."

The chats, which were deleted from Rather's phone, were allegedly recovered by a digital forensic team from a staffer at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, where Rather had worked before his arrest. The messages were exchanged between September 5 and 9, nearly a month before the November 10 blast that killed 15 people and injured more than 20.

The Desperate Messages

In his first message, dated September 5, Rather was allegedly asking the staffer to credit his salary.

"Good afternoon, sir... I had requested that the salary be credited... (I am) in dire need of money."

Nearly two hours later, he messaged again, requesting that the money be transferred directly to his account.

"Please transfer it to my account. I had given the account details earlier," his message read.

The next morning, on September 6, he followed up:

"Good morning, sir. Please do it. I will be grateful."

A few hours later, he messaged again, underlining his desperate need: "Need salary ASAP, sir. In need of money."

His final recovered message on this thread, dated September 9, read:

"Please do it tomorrow. I really need it, sir."

As per sources, nearly Rs 26 lakh was used in the Delhi bombing, and Rather's contribution was reported to be Rs 8 lakh.

During interrogation, it was revealed that Rather was known as the "treasurer" in the terror module behind the Delhi blast.

Investigating agencies are now trying to determine who paid Adeel Rather and whether the money went directly to the terrorist network. The recovered chats are considered a key link in the case.

Adeel Rather was one of several Kashmiri doctors who were members of a "white collar" terror module. The other members included Muzammil Ganaie, Shaheen Saeed, and Umar-un-Nabi, who drove the explosive-laden car on November 10.

The module was busted by the Jammu and Kashmir police, along with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The investigation led to Faridabad, where 2,900 kg of explosives were recovered. This thread unravelled the module's plot. Ganaie and Saeed were arrested in Faridabad hours before the blast, and Adeel Rather was picked up later in Saharanpur.