Delhi car blast: Jasir Bilal was first choice to carry out suicide attack but he backed out and Umar executed the attack
PTC Web Desk: Jasir Bilal, alias Danish, who was arrested from Srinagar on Wednesday, was reportedly the first choice to carry out the suicide attack in Delhi. Investigators revealed that Bilal declined the mission despite being groomed for it for nearly two years.
Bilal, a resident of Qazigund in Anantnag and a political science student, was radicalised in 2023 by Dr Umar Nabi, the man behind the explosive-laden car that blew up near the Red Fort on November 10, killing 15 persons. Dr Umar, an assistant professor at Al-Falah University in Faridabad, is said to have spent months indoctrinating Bilal after meeting him at a mosque in Kulgam in October 2023. Bilal was brought to a rented flat near the university where Umar allegedly pushed him to become a suicide bomber and provided technical training.
However, the plan collapsed in April 2025 when Bilal refused to participate in the attack. During interrogation, Bilal told the police that he rejected the assignment for two main reasons: his belief that suicide is prohibited in Islam and his struggling financial situation. Other members of the module wanted to use him as an over-ground worker, but Umar insisted on making him the suicide attacker.
Investigators now believe that after Bilal backed out, Dr Umar decided to execute the attack himself. DNA extracted from human remains recovered from the blast site matched samples from Umar’s mother, confirming that he was the bomber.
A new video of Dr Umar surfaced on Thursday, showing him speaking fluent English and defending suicide missions. In the video, he argues that what the world calls “suicide bombing” is actually a “martyrdom operation,.
Bilal’s arrest, which followed the detention of two other accused, Dr Adeel Rather and Dr Muzaffar Ganaie, helped Srinagar Police unearth the wider interstate module linked to the banned terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
In a tragic turn of events, Bilal’s father, Bilal Wani, a dry fruit seller, died after setting himself on fire. Police sources said Wani was repeatedly denied permission to meet his detained son and brother, which left him in extreme distress. He sustained critical burns and was first taken to Government Medical College in Anantnag, then shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, where he succumbed to his injuries.
- With inputs from agencies
