Gurgaon: The three Al-Falah University doctors accused of plotting the suicide bombing near Red Fort did not stop at weapons and explosives. The NIA chargesheet alleged that they also tried to draw students and fellow medical professionals into their ideological fold, hoping to widen the module’s network and create new recruits.Dr Umer Un Nabi, Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Shahid allegedly sought out impressionable youths and people close to them. The investigating agency said Umer was “always exploring the possibility of radicalising and indoctrinating impressionable young boys and girls” into the ideology of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), the al-Qaida-linked militant outfit the module allegedly sought to revive.Muzamil allegedly took the outreach online, bringing acquaintances, students and colleagues into a Signal group to disseminate AGuH’s ideology. The chargesheet said he also discussed the group’s plans and recruitment strategy with Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay, an imam in Shopian. Their conversations covered sleeper cells and clandestine meetings, NIA alleged.The network then reached beyond Faridabad. Muzammil and his wife Shaheen, accompanied by an acquaintance from the Signal group, allegedly surveyed Vidhan Sabha, Bapu Bhavan and Lok Bhavan in Lucknow. NIA alleged in its chargesheet that the three govt buildings were being assessed as possible targets for attacks in the future. The reconnaissance suggested that the module was looking not only for recruits but also for new ground to operate in.The effort to widen the network was allegedly rooted in the doctors’ access to young people. The chargesheet said each doctor tried to influence students around them and mould them to the module’s ideology. The agency alleged they intended to use students or sleeper cells in a war against Indian govt.The investigating agency also received information from other doctors at Al-Falah. A female doctor told NIA she had a bag belonging to Shaheen. A search of it by the agency yielded evidence linked to the module’s logistical and financial trail, according to the chargesheet.NIA’s allegations came as part of its probe into the Nov 10 suicide bombing near Red Fort that killed 15 persons and injured 29. The agency alleged that the module was not merely assembling explosives and procuring arms, but was trying to build a wider ecosystem of sympathisers, recruits and support for its plans.The alleged effort to turn ordinary young people into extensions of a covert network assumes significance all the more against the backdrop of recent espionage cases in the region, where police alleged that youths were recruited for small tasks such as filming sensitive establishments and passing photographs, videos and GPS details to Pakistan-based handlers.
