The NIA has arrested Kashmiri student Amir Rashid Ali, accused of assisting alleged suicide bomber Dr. Umar Nabi in the Delhi Red Fort blast that killed 13 people on November 1.

In a significant breakthrough in the Delhi Red Fort blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested Amir Rashid Ali, a Kashmiri student alleged to be a close associate of suspected suicide bomber Dr. Umar Nabi. The November 1 explosion, which involved a Hyundai i20 car and claimed 13 lives while injuring over 30, has been under intense investigation for two weeks.

According to the NIA, the car used in the deadly blast was registered in Rashid Ali’s name, linking him directly to the planning network. A resident of Samboora village in Pulwama, Rashid Ali is believed to have worked closely with Dr. Nabi, who served as an assistant professor in the General Medicine department at Al Falah University, Faridabad.

Investigators say Dr. Nabi, aged 28, emerged as a highly radicalised figure at the centre of an organised terror network spread across Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Officials suspect he was preparing a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack near a crowded location, timed close to the December 6 Babri Masjid demolition anniversary.

The NIA has questioned 73 witnesses so far, including several injured survivors, as it pieces together the wider conspiracy behind the attack.

Analysis: The latest arrest highlights how terror modules increasingly operate across state lines while maintaining deep local connections. Rashid Ali’s capture may accelerate the investigation, but it also raises fresh concerns about radicalisation networks embedded within academic and urban spaces. As the probe expands, the case is likely to spark debate around campus security, cross-state policing, and the evolving methods of organised terror outfits.