Officials investigating the Red Fort blast have said that they are now probing whether a Jaish-e-Mohammed module tried to turn hospitals in Kashmir into clandestine weapons depots, mirroring the way terror group Hamas allegedly stored arms inside medical facilities in Gaza, sources told India Today TV.
According to officers familiar with the case, the lead emerged during the questioning of Dr Adil Rather, arrested in connection with the November 10 explosion near Red Fort that killed fourteen people and injured several others. Officials said that the module was exploring hospitals in Anantnag, Srinagar, Baramulla, Budgam and Nowgam as potential stash points for “toxic weapons”, using the cover of medical staff to evade suspicion.
NIA officials are also examining whether the module received any form of technical support from Hamas. Sources said that the possibility has “significantly strengthened” after the arrest of three doctors linked to the group, prompting a sweep of multiple health facilities.
In one such raid, police recovered weapons from lockers associated with the accused doctor. Searches are expected to widen in the coming days as more leads are verified.
The alleged plot sits against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding investigation into the Red Fort attack. Hours before the blast, police had seized a large cache of explosives from Al Falah University in Faridabad, exposing what officials called a “white-collar terror network”. The NIA has now arrested six people in the case, including four prime accused picked up this week.
Meanwhile, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has asked the Police Commissioner and Chief Secretary to roll out a set of preventive measures following the attack.
His directives included creating a digital trail for all high-volume ammonium nitrate transactions with photographs of buyers and sellers, opening talks with major social media platforms to track radical content more effectively, and tightening both human and technical intelligence in vulnerable neighbourhoods.
The administration has been told to compile a central database of doctors and paramedical staff employed particularly by private hospitals, with degree verification for those trained abroad.
It has also been asked to work with vehicle marketplaces and financiers to stop the widespread practice of vehicles operating with owners different from those on registration records, a loophole officials said has repeatedly benefited terror operatives using untraceable transport.
