UP Police Trace ‘Terror Module of Doctors’ After J&K Cops Flag Srinagar Wedding Link

Two doctors who attended the wedding of Dr Adil Ahmad Rather — the alleged mastermind of the November 10 Red Fort blast — were detained for questioning by Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday, officials said.

Dr Adil, a 31-year-old postgraduate in internal medicine from Qazigund, Anantnag, was arrested from Saharanpur on November 6 by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Investigators now believe his October 4 wedding in Srinagar served as a covert meeting for members of the terror module later linked to the Delhi explosion.

According to police sources, two of Dr Adil’s colleagues from a Saharanpur hospital — Dr Aslam Zaidi and Dr Bilal Ahmad — attended the wedding and have been detained for questioning. A senior UP Police officer confirmed that efforts are underway to identify other attendees, as investigators suspect the event “doubled as a congregation point for key members and facilitators” of the network.

Authorities are also probing whether others, including Lucknow-based Dr Parvez Ansari — arrested Tuesday — and his sister, Dr Shaheen Shahid, detained Monday in Faridabad, were present at the ceremony.

Officials said the module, made up primarily of doctors and medical professionals, allegedly began operations shortly after the wedding. Their activities reportedly included distributing threat posters targeting Indian soldiers, sourcing weapons, and channeling funds through covert means.

Investigators allege Dr Adil managed the module’s logistics and finances. Despite earning around ₹5 lakh a month at a Saharanpur hospital, he lived modestly in a rented two-bedroom flat, raising suspicions that he diverted his income to fund terror activities.

Police said the first indication of the network’s existence came on October 19, when posters bearing the insignia of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed surfaced in Srinagar’s Nowgam area. More posters appeared on October 27, and CCTV footage allegedly showed Dr Adil near the locations where they were pasted. Surveillance later revealed he was in contact with Pakistani handlers, leading investigators to trace him to Saharanpur.

Based on his interrogation, police raided a Faridabad godown on November 9 and recovered 350–360 kg of ammonium nitrate, two AK-47 rifles, 200 rounds of ammunition, 20 electronic timers, detonators, and IED components — material capable of triggering multiple large-scale explosions.

Investigators said the cache was stored in a facility rented under Dr Adil’s instructions by another accused, Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie.

Among those arrested is Dr Shaheen Shahid, a former assistant professor at Kanpur Medical College who disappeared in 2021 before re-emerging at a private medical university in Faridabad. Her brother, Dr Parvez Ansari, a professor at a private minority university in Lucknow, is also in custody as the probe expands across Delhi-NCR, Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir.