How doctors interrogation led to unraveling of major terror plot

According to Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and central intelligence agencies, at least four doctors from Hyderabad, Pulwama, and Faridabad were allegedly part of a radical module connected to Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

According to news reports, the events unfolded when a Rajendranagar-based doctor originally from Khammam, Telangana, was arrested by the Gujarat ATS on November 8 near the Adalaj toll plaza on the Ahmedabad–Mehsana Road.

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The doctor, who once ran a shawarma business to make ends meet, was also actively posting subversive literature related to terror activities on Telegram. He was allegedly radicalising several people via telegram, as per a TOI news report. 

Speaking to TOI, Investigators said he was in contact with a handler named Abu Khadija, who is associated with the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). He himself was also radicalising others by talking about terror-related issues.

During the interception of his car, officials recovered two Glock pistols, one Beretta handgun, 30 live cartridges and four kilograms of castor-bean mash, the raw ingredient for ricin. 

It has been revealed that the doctor was not just a courier but the central figure in an IS-sponsored conspiracy to unleash mass casualties using poison and drone-supplied weapons. Ricin, extracted from castor beans, has no known antidote and can kill within hours if inhaled, injected, or ingested.

MBBS Degree from China

According to the investigators, the doctor holds an MBBS degree from China; however, the police are investigating the authenticity of his degree following his alleged link to the blast incident. It has been reported that he was allegedly working under the direction of Abu Khadija. He was producing ricin in significant quantities and had conducted reconnaissance of sensitive sites in Delhi, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad.

After his arrest, two of his associates were later arrested. Both allegedly helped in moving weapons and ammunition. Investigators believe the network was part of a larger IS-backed terror cell using drone technology to drop weapons across Punjab and Rajasthan.

An ATS officer told Mathrubhumi, "This is one of the most dangerous terror modules we’ve uncovered in recent years. The combination of ricin and drone-supplied arms shows the scale and sophistication of this conspiracy."

Investigators described ricin as a Category B biotoxin, prohibited under both the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Even minute exposure can be fatal within hours, with no known antidote.

Central agencies said he had obtained the formula from his handler and was working to prepare it for large-scale use. As interrogations continued, the officials found credible information from his mobile phone, which confirmed that he was linked with international terrorist outfits that include AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent ), including Afghanistan-based Abu Khadija. Khadija is said to be a prominent leader of the Islamic State Khorasan Province.

It is suspected that Khadija was the mastermind behind giving the chemical bomb formula and organising sleeper cells in Delhi. The doctor, during interrogation, has reportedly confessed to links with Abu Khadija, as per a Deccan Chronicle news report. 

Shortly after his arrest, investigators connected the dots to other radicalised doctors operating under the same network. Two doctors, both from Pulwama, were arrested in Faridabad after police discovered 2,900 kg of IED-making material from two houses they had rented. The haul included ammonium nitrate, chemicals, wires, batteries, and remote-control devices, all ingredients for large-scale explosions.

Direct link with Pulwama attack

After a deep investigation, the police traced the white Hyundai i20 used in Monday’s Red Fort Metro station blast to a Pulwama-based doctor. Following this, they have established a direct link between the attack that killed nine people in central Delhi and the raids carried out in Faridabad earlier the same day.

As per The Print, the car’s current owner, who is the doctor from Pulwama, allegedly belongs to the same terror network as two other doctors who were arrested before Monday’s raid in Faridabad.

According to media reports, Dr ***, who owned the car, reportedly panicked and triggered the blast near the Red Fort after investigators arrested those two doctors, key members of the module. 

NDTV sources have indicated that the target could have been anywhere in central Delhi, as the car was seen moving from the Red Fort toward the city centre. Police and intelligence agencies believe that a large quantity of ammonium nitrate was used in the Red Fort terror attack. The substance recovered in the raids is also suspected to be ammonium nitrate - widely used in fertilisers but can also be used to make bombs.

The joint operations by Gujarat ATS, Jammu & Kashmir Police, Haryana Police, and Central agencies exposed how the group’s activities stretched from Telangana to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, and Jammu & Kashmir. 

The blast is now being probed as a terror attack, with the Delhi Police invoking sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), covering acts of terrorism and related punishment. They have also added sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act, along with charges of murder and attempt to murder.