Delhi Court Allows Nia To Dispose Of Red Fort Blast Victims Remains With Dignity

A Delhi court on Monday allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to dispose of the biological remains of the victims of the Red Fort bomb blast and the alleged suicide bomber, Umer Un Nabi, with dignity and in accordance with their respective religious customs.

The order was passed by principal district and sessions judge Pitamber Dutt of the Patiala House Court on an application filed by the NIA seeking permission to dispose of the body parts collected from the blast site, which had been preserved as evidence during the investigation.

Appearing for the NIA, public prosecutor Madhav Khurana told the court that the body parts had gradually decomposed and were being kept with the forensic unit. He submitted that their evidentiary value had been fully utilised through forensic examination and that there was no further need to preserve them.

Allowing the plea, the court observed: “The NIA should dispose of the biological body parts of the deceased and the accused with full human dignity and as per their religious belief.”

The Red Fort blast took place on November 10 last year, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near the Lal Quila Metro Station, killing at least 11 people and injuring several others.

The explosion occurred amid slow-moving traffic at the junction, causing extensive damage to nearby vehicles and properties. Investigators later identified Umer Un Nabi, a doctor from Jammu and Kashmir, as the alleged suicide bomber who was inside the explosives-laden vehicle when it detonated near the Red Fort.

A day after the blast, the NIA registered a case under Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act.

By December last year, the agency had arrested nine persons for allegedly conspiring with and providing technical and logistical support to Nabi to execute the attack.

Some of the accused were allegedly linked to Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where they either worked or taught.

The NIA has so far filed two chargesheets before the court, alleging that the blast was part of a larger conspiracy codenamed ‘Operation Heavenly Hind’, which had allegedly been in preparation since 2022. Last month, the agency filed a supplementary chargesheet naming three more accused, taking the total number of accused in the case to 13.

According to the NIA, Nabi was the prime accused who masterminded the attack with the help of a network of “radicalised individuals”, including doctors, facilitators and logistics providers, who allegedly conspired to execute the terrorist attack.

Arnabjit Sur is a Senior Correspondent with Hindustan Times' Legal Bureau. He covers Delhi's district courts. Previously, he has covered crime in the city.