An imam from Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian, identified as Irfan Ahmad Wagah, was arrested on Tuesday, November 12, in connection with the ongoing investigation into the Faridabad explosives seizure and the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort.
His arrest marks a major development in a multi-agency counter-terror operation that has exposed an alleged network of radicalisation involving educated professionals.
The Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) and Srinagar Police jointly conducted the raid at Ahmad’s Nowgam residence, detaining him and his wife for allegedly recruiting and radicalising medical professionals, including those already arrested in the Faridabad terror module, as well as several youths from the Valley.
Ahmad, a former paramedical employee at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, had also served as an imam in Nowgam. Intelligence officials say that he played a key role in indoctrinating doctors and other educated youth toward extremist ideologies.
His wife is suspected of working closely with Dr Shaheen, one of the doctors linked to the Faridabad module, who reportedly helped form a women’s wing under the banned group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Phones and digital devices seized from their home contained messages and radical instructions urging followers to pursue extremist objectives, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Investigators have traced Ahmad’s network to Dr Muzammil Shakeel, an associate of Dr Mohammad Umar, the alleged mastermind behind the Red Fort blast. Shakeel, who worked at Al Falah University in Faridabad’s Dhauj, reportedly operated from rooms owned by the imam.
Police sources revealed that Ahmad maintained close contact with both Muzammil and Umar, facilitating their coordination and ideological support.
Ahmad came under the radar after posters bearing Jaish-e-Mohammed’s insignia appeared in Bunpora, Nowgam, on October 19. During interrogation, detainees identified the imam as the person who distributed the posters.
Investigators believe his sermons were laced with extremist narratives designed to radicalise professionals while masking militant operations under the guise of religious study or community welfare.
Authorities have described the network as an instance of “white-collar terrorism", wherein doctors and academics allegedly acted as facilitators for banned terror organisations including JeM and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
Messages recovered from digital devices point to a broader conspiracy, a multi-state simultaneous attack plan aimed at “setting India ablaze" as retaliation for the killing of Jaish chief Masood Azhar’s family in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
With Ahmad’s arrest, officials believe a major terror plot has been foiled, exposing a disturbing new front where education and radicalisation intersect.
