Suspected Delhi Bomber's Mother Detained In Pulwama, To Undergo DNA Test

The mother of the man suspected to have been driving the car that exploded near Delhi's Red Fort on Monday evening will undergo a DNA test in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Tuesday.

According to officials, the move is aimed at confirming whether the human remains recovered from the blast site belong to Dr Umar Mohammad, a doctor from Pulwama who is suspected to be the suicide bomber behind the deadly explosion that killed nine people and injured at least 20.

"We have taken the mother of the suspect to collect DNA samples in order to match them with the parts found at the scene of the blast," an official told PTI.

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Police officials said that Umar's mother and two brothers were detained for questioning on Monday night, soon after the explosion. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team had earlier collected all human remains and evidence from the Red Fort area for testing.

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About Dr Umar Mohammad

Born in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on 24 February 1989, Umar Mohammad was a doctor at the Al Falah Medical College in Faridabad. He was allegedly a close aide of Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather and Dr Mujammil Shakil, the two doctors who were arrested on Monday in the investigations into a new "white collar" terror module busted by the police teams of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana.

Investigators believe Umar escaped from Faridabad after he learnt that his associates had been arrested and 2,900 kg of explosives had been seized over the past few days. Sources say he "panicked" and triggered the blast near Red Fort, the 17th century Mughal-built monument that is one of the country's most popular tourist spots.

Security footage reportedly shows the white Hyundai i20 car parked near the Red Fort for nearly three hours with the driver inside, before it moved towards the Metro Station traffic signal and exploded moments later.

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As per the sources, the attackers used Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO) to trigger the blast. "Umar Mohammad and his associates used Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO) to carry out the attack. They placed a detonator in the car and carried out the terror attack in a crowded area near Red Fort," sources said.

(With inputs from PTI)