Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah (PTI photo/File)
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that “not every resident of Jammu and Kashmir is a terrorist,” as the probe into the Red Fort car blast widened to Kashmir.”Not every resident of Jammu and Kashmir is a terrorist. It is only a handful of people who have always tried to disturb the peace and brotherhood in Kashmir,” Abdullah told news agency ANI.The Hyundai i20 car used in the blast near the Red Fort metro station parking was allegedly driven by Mohammad Umar, a Kashmiri doctor suspected to be behind the deadly explosion that killed 13 people and left several others injured.A Kashmiri cleric who doubled as a paramedic at Srinagar’s Government Medical College has been arrested for allegedly driving a “white-collar” terrorist module that targeted medical students and young doctors — some of whom are suspects in the network busted in Faridabad hours before Monday’s car blast in New Delhi.Moulvi Irfan Ahmad Wagay, also known as Imam Irfan, from Shopian in south Kashmir allegedly used his access at GMC and his prayer sessions in Srinagar’s Nowgam to reach students, identify those seen as susceptible, and push them toward radicalisation, sources said Tuesday.While condemning the alleged terror attack in Delhi, CM Abdullah said that it is only a “few people who have ruined peace and brotherhood in the region,” and that it is not fair to characterise every Kashmiri as being associated with terrorism. “It is highly condemnable. No religion can justify the killing of innocents with such brutality. Investigation will continue, but we must remember one thing – not every resident of Jammu and Kashmir is a terrorist or associated with terrorists. These are only a few people who have always ruined peace and brotherhood here. When we look at every resident of J&K and every Kashmiri Muslim with a single ideology and think that each one of them is a terrorist, it is difficult to keep the people on the right track,” CM Abdullah said.He further called for the people responsible to be “severely punished,” while also making sure that innocent people are kept out of it.Commenting on the blast accused being from a professional background, including being doctors, the Chief Minister questioned the ‘security failure’ which led to the blast.”Have we not seen the professor of Universities before this?… Who says that educated people don’t get involved in such things? They do. I am shocked by the fact that, though they were expelled from the job, what kind of investigation was undertaken after that? Why was prosecution not carried out?… We can only help the central government to keep the situation normal, and we are doing that,” he said.Meanwhile, Investigators probing the Red Fort blast have traced the origins of the alleged terror plot to a Turkiye-based handler, identified by the codename Ukasa, who is believed to have directed the module led by Al-Falah University professor Umar Un Nabi, officials said.According to security sources, Ukasa served as the key conduit between the Delhi-based terror module and the handlers of the Pakistan-backed outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH).Officials said the conspiracy was hatched as early as 2022 in Turkiye, where Umar and three other operatives, all with links to these banned organisations, had travelled. Umar reportedly visited Turkiye in March 2022, spending nearly two weeks in Ankara.“It was Ukasa who guided them on how to establish covert cells and avoid digital footprints,” an officer said. “Their conversations had initially started on Telegram and later shifted to encrypted apps like Signal and Session.”Investigators believe Ukasa played a central role in planning a “spectacular” series of coordinated attacks in India, involving multiple vehicle-borne IEDs followed by armed assaults.Three cars, a Hyundai i20, a red Ford EcoSport, and a Maruti Brezza, were allegedly procured as part of the plan. While Umar’s i20 exploded near the Red Fort on November 10, killing him instantly, the EcoSport was later recovered from Faridabad, and agencies have now launched a search for the Brezza, which they suspect may still contain hidden explosives.