‘Rather than deploying Pakistani nationals or using identifiable cross-border materials, the ISI sought to radicalise and recruit local Indian youth, including well-educated professionals such as doctors.’
IMAGE: Delhi police personnel conduct an investigation at the site of the car blast near Red Fort, November 13, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo
The Red Fort blast of November 10, 2025, which killed 15 people and injured many more in the national capital, has come to be viewed as one of the most significant terror incidents in India in recent years — not only for how it was being planned, but for what the investigation has revealed about the changing nature of radicalisation.
According to officials quoted by the Delhi police, the National Investigation Agency and multiple media outlets, the module behind the attack was composed not of traditional foot soldiers but of highly educated young professionals, including doctors associated with private universities and charitable institutions.
For investigators, the arrests of Dr Muzammil and several others, the discovery of a larger Faridabad-based bomb-making network, and the explosive death of Dr Umar Mohammed Nabi near the Red Fort in what is suspected to have been a failed suicide mission, have raised urgent questions about how extremist recruiters are now targeting individuals who previously lay outside the intelligence radar.
The probe has also uncovered possible cross-border linkages, with one accused doctor’s brother detained in India and another — Dr Muzaffar of Qazigund — believed to be residing in Afghanistan.
As agencies trace digital trails across several countries, former Jammu and Kashmir director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid in the concluding part of his interview with Prasanna D ZoreRediff argues that India is confronting not merely terrorism but a sophisticated form of psychological warfare aimed at subverting the nation from within.
You have often spoken about Pakistan’s role in brainwashing youth. Has Pakistan changed its strategy to target educated professionals?
Pakistan’s current military leadership, under Field Marshal General Asim Munir, appears increasingly emboldened — partly due to certain international engagements, including the recent luncheon hosted by US President Donald Trump, and partly due to the strategic backing it perceives from China.
These developments have created within Pakistan’s establishment a misplaced belief that this is an opportune moment to challenge India.
What they fail to appreciate is the strength, preparedness and resilience of India in 2025, and the consequences that any such miscalculation will inevitably attract, particularly in the wake of India’s firm response through Operation Sindoor.
In the Red Fort module specifically, Pakistan’s handlers have deliberately shifted strategy. Rather than deploying Pakistani nationals or using identifiable cross-border materials, the ISI sought to radicalise and recruit local Indian youth, including well-educated professionals such as doctors.
The intention was to build local supply chains, procure local resources and employ local networks so the operation would not be easily traceable back to Pakistan.
However, this approach fundamentally underestimates the professionalism and capability of India’s intelligence and security agencies.
Whether the trail leads to Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan or Bangladesh, Indian agencies have both the experience and the technical capacity to uncover such linkages.
No attempt to obscure cross-border involvement — whether through local recruits or local procurement — will ultimately succeed.
Coming to the broader question: The Red Fort blast, the Faridabad module, and the arrests of several highly educated suspects — all of this seemingly points to a larger pattern.
What immediate steps should India now take to ensure that even the single case that slips through the net is prevented?
IMAGE: The demolished house of Dr Umar Nabi, accused in the Red Fort blast, in Pulwama. Photograph: ANI Photo
India must urgently strengthen intensive surveillance, both online and offline. This includes closely monitoring digital behaviour — who is accessing extremist content, who is communicating with handlers in Pakistan, Turkey, Dubai, Bangladesh or Afghanistan, and who is engaging with suspicious networks or encrypted platforms.
Radicalisation today often begins online through grooming in private groups, the spread of propaganda, and the deliberate distortion of religious ideas, so identifying these early warning signs is essential.
Equally important is the scrutiny of foreign travel. Every state police force and central agency must examine travel histories and digital footprints with far greater rigour.
Some of the doctors under investigation had travelled to Turkey — increasingly used by Pakistani handlers as a neutral meeting ground — and the purpose of those visits should have been examined in greater detail.
Investigators have also uncovered the involvement of a doctor’s brother who has been apprehended, while the doctor himself — Dr Muzaffar, formerly practising in Qazigund — is believed to be currently in Afghanistan. Whether sustained communication took place between the two is an important line of inquiry.
These are precisely the gaps we must close with urgency. Enhanced vigilance, coordinated intelligence and proactive monitoring — not profiling, but intelligence-led policing — are essential if we are to prevent even a single case from slipping through.
Radicalisation is being carried out through subtle and deceptive methods, particularly targeting educated individuals who can operate discreetly without drawing suspicion.
What new patterns of indoctrination are you seeing? The Red Fort blast involved people who were educated, successful, and seemingly well-settled. What draws such individuals into extremist ideology?
We must understand that radicalisation today is not driven by poverty or lack of education. In fact, educated minds can be more vulnerable because they rationalise ideology in a structured, intellectual manner.
The indoctrination process follows a classic pattern:
- Identity manipulation: Convincing individuals that their religious identity is under attack.
- Victim narrative: Portraying the State as oppressive.
- Isolation: Encouraging secrecy and withdrawal from family.
- Mission creation: Glorifying violence as a sacred duty.
- Operational binding: Tying the individual into a closed group where dissent becomes impossible.
This is psychological warfare, not religious instruction. Online handlers often exploit emotional vulnerabilities, personal grievances, or perceived injustices. Even a highly educated doctor can be drawn in if the narrative is systematically constructed.
