Apple harvest keeps youth away from terror: How a potential suicide bomber backed out of Red Fort plot

New Delhi/Srinagar: Investigations into the "white collar" terror module busted after the recent car bombing near Red Fort showed that the mastermind Dr Umar-un Nabi had attempted to recruit a second suicide bomber but could not succeed as he backed out of the terror plot citing the need to help his family during the apple harvest, officials said on Sunday.

The Srinagar Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have uncovered a parallel terror module orchestrated by Nabi, the man who was driving the explosive-laden vehicle that detonated outside the historic Red Fort on November 10, killing over 12 people.

Interrogations of the arrested suspects have highlighted recruitment tactics used by the doctor-turned-terrorist, leading to the nabbing of a Shopian resident, Yasir Ahmed Dar, by the NIA.

The officials said Nabi had successfully radicalised Dar as a potential suicide bomber, but during a meeting in August last year, he backed out at the last minute, citing the "apple harvest season" and repairs at home as reasons.

According to the officials, Dar had been in contact with Nabi since 2023 and he admitted that Nabi's professional status as a medical doctor played a significant role in his influence, making his extremist rhetoric more persuasive and "trustworthy" to recruits.

The probe indicated that Nabi was not merely a terrorist but a strategic recruiter who was actively building secondary, independent cells to ensure the continuity of operations even if primary cells were compromised, the officials said.

During the investigation, the police also recovered a voice note from the phone of one of the accused in which he is pronouncing 'Bayat' (oath of allegiance) for Jihad.

The name of Dar, a school dropout, had surfaced earlier in investigations when one of his friends had joined the ranks of terror groups.

During interrogation, it came to light that he had been in touch with Nabi through Telegram and he was always asked to ensure the best physical training, the officials said.

Dar is the second potential suicide bomber that Nabi was trying to rope into the terror module, as he was a "hardcore radical" and insisted that a human bomber was essential for their terror operations, they said As the terror module was being exposed by the Srinagar Police last year, one person identified as Jasier alias Danish was arrested from Qazigund in South Kashmir.

A bachelor in political sciences, he admitted to having met the 'Doctor module' in October 2024 at a mosque in Kulgam, from where he was taken to rented accommodation at Al-Falah University in Faridabad.

Jasir had told his interrogators that while others in the white-collar terror module wanted him to be an over-ground worker (OGW) for the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed, he was intensely brainwashed by Nabi over several months to become a suicide bomber.

The plan, however, collapsed in April last year after he backed out, citing his poor economic condition and the belief that suicide was forbidden in Islam.

The suicide bomber scouting plot of the module, cracked by Srinagar police led by its Senior Superintendent of Police Dr G V Sundeep Chakravarthy, adds a dangerous new dimension to the investigation into the interstate terror network linked to the JeM.

As reported by the PTI earlier, Nabi, a 28-year-old doctor from Pulwama, emerged as the most radicalised and key operative in the network spanning Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Officials believe he was planning a powerful Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) blast timed around the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary on December 6.

He planned to place the VBIED around a crowded place, either in the national capital or at some place of religious importance, and then disappear, the officials said.

According to the interrogation of the co-accused, Nabi's transformation began after a trip to Turkiye in 2021 with co-accused Dr. Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie, where they allegedly met JeM overground workers.

Following the trip, Nabi and Ganaie, who taught at Faridabad's Al Falah University, began accumulating vast quantities of chemicals from the open market, including 360 kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sulphur, much of which was stored near the university campus.

The December plot fell apart when Srinagar police's meticulous investigation led to Ganaie's arrest and the seizure of the explosives, which caused Nabi to panic and finally resultedin a premature blast outside the Red Fort.

The intricate inter-state terror network was exposed after a small but significant incident of the appearance of JeM posters on walls in Bunpora, Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar on October 19, 2025.

Srinagar police registered a case and reviewed CCTV footage, leading to the arrest of three locals -- Arif Nisar Dar alias Sahil, Yasir-ul-Ashraf, and Maqsood Ahmad Dar alias Shahid, all with prior stone-pelting cases.

Their interrogation led to the arrest of Maulvi Irfan Ahmad, a former paramedic turned Imam from Shopian, who allegedly supplied the posters and used his access to radicalise the doctors.