Red Fort Blast Accused Umar Bought Explosives Material Online: NIA Charge Sheet

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) submitted a 7500-page chargesheet relating to the Red Fort blast of November 2025, in which 11 people were killed.

The chargesheet elaborates upon how the accused allegedly used fake identities, online platforms and decentralised networking to make improvised explosive devices.

The investigating agency alleged that the accused were experimenting with commonly available chemicals and prime accused Dr Umer Un Nabi converted his flat into a makeshift lab.

Nabi was driving the explosives-laden car and died in the blast.

 How NIA Cracked Supply Chain

According to PTI, a delivery challan dated September 25, 2024, from a small Mumbai trader provided a clue about the supply chain for procuring materials associated with explosives.

The challan mentions customised mixed metal oxide coated titanium anode. This is a specialised electrode used in an electrolysis process that, according to the investigating agency, the accused needed for their experiments.

This anode was received by Umar at his flat near Al Falah University in Faridabad but documents name ‘Rahul Bhat’ as the recipient. This was Umar’s fake identity that he used to register on an online marketplace.

He made contact with the shop owner from Mumbai in August 2024 and paid 25,000 to him through an app.

PTI reports that Umar posted his "product of interest as a fertiliser bag, acetone solvent, anode and chemicals, etc".

Electrolysis, from the procured anode, was then used for deriving chlorates and perchlorates from a common salt solution as per NIA. Notably, chlorates and perchlorates are explosive in nature with uses including fireworks.

The NIA, in its chargesheet, added that Umar had further sourced 10 more anodes whose delivery could not be completed since the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind interim terror module, was busted just in time.

Emerging risks from Smaller Modules

Apart from online marketplace, Umar along with another charge-sheeted co-accused Dr Muzammil Shakeel, also visited Ahmedabad in Gujarat on April 12 last year in a bid to procure chemicals for manufacturing of explosives as per PTI.

The NIA recovered radical jihadi literature from the mobile devices of the accused which, the agency says, were referred to while conducting experiments.

The findings, as per various reports, indicate the emerging concerns for the security agencies in which small terror cells, working their way through encrypted platforms and online marketplaces to source materials while keeping a low profile, represent a rising risk to national security.