 "Maulvi Irfan Ahmad Wagah ran multiple Telegram and Threema accounts, which he used to circulate Jaish-e-Mohammad propaganda among targeted youth. Image courtesy: News18")
A Maulvi from Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district, Irfan Ahmad Wagah, was arrested on Tuesday, just a day after the massive bust of explosives near Faridabad and the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort set off a major investigation involving multiple agencies.
According to officials, the Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK), along with Srinagar Police, picked up Wagah and his wife during a late-night raid at their residence.
The couple is accused of recruiting and radicalising doctors and medical students, including those linked to the so-called “white-collar terror module” uncovered in Faridabad, as well as several young men from the Valley.
Authorities believe Wagah played a key role in building the network that connected Kashmir-based recruits to the plot that led to the Delhi car blast , which has now become the centre of a widening terror probe.
Here’s what we know so far about him and how his alleged network ties into the Delhi blast investigation.
How did the Maulvi radicalise youth?
According to a report by News18, Irfan Ahmad Wagah previously worked as a paramedical staff member at a Government Medical College in Srinagar. During that time, he came in contact with several students who regularly visited a mosque in Nowgam.
Sources said Irfan slowly began influencing these students, including some pursuing medicine in Faridabad, by exposing them to radical ideologies. They added that he drew inspiration from the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
“He was inspired by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and used to show videos to students. He was talking to someone in Afghanistan on VOIP,” a source said.
Investigators revealed that Irfan ran multiple Telegram and Threema accounts, which he used to circulate JeM propaganda among targeted youth. “He also showed Afghan wartime sermons to targeted students,” sources told News18.
Officials suspect that Irfan received ideological guidance and encrypted voice instructions from terror handlers based in Nangarhar, Afghanistan.
Further investigations have also pointed to Irfan’s wife’s involvement. She allegedly played a key role in radicalising a doctor named Shaheen Saeed, who is accused of forming a women’s wing under Jaish called Jamaat-ul-Mominaat and one of the key financiers and facilitators behind the car blast in Delhi.
“Shaheen was a facilitator, but the brain was Irfan," said sources, adding that Muzzamil and Omar, who are also linked to the blast, used to take the process forward.
Phones seized from the couple’s home reportedly contained messages and instructions urging recruits to pursue extremist goals and expand the network.
How did they plan the Delhi car blast?
The trail leading to Maulvi Irfan Ahmad Wagah began when posters bearing the name of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) appeared on walls in Bunpora, Nowgam, on October 19. Intelligence agencies quickly launched an investigation, picking up three overground workers known for their history of stone-pelting.
During interrogation, the trio revealed their connection to Maulvi Irfan, placing him squarely under the radar of security agencies. His disclosures eventually led to the arrests of Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather and Zameer Ahangar, both believed to be close associates of the cleric.
Further questioning helped police trace another key figure, Dr Muzammil, who was allegedly operating from rooms owned by Irfan in Faridabad. Muzammil worked as a doctor at Al Falah University in the Dhauj village, the same location where a major explosives haul was discovered earlier this week.
According to NDTV, Irfan’s network also included Mohammad Umar, who is suspected of carrying out the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort in a state of panic after the Faridabad module was exposed.
When security forces raided the properties connected to the group, they made staggering recoveries: 350 kg of ammonium nitrate, bomb-making materials, weapons, and an AK-47 rifle. In another property in Faridabad’s Fatehpur Taga village, just 4 km away, officials uncovered 2,563 kg of suspected explosives.
Dr Shaheen Saeed, a woman doctor from Uttar Pradesh, was reportedly in touch with Dr Umar, who studied at Al Falah Medical College, where Maulvi Irfan had been actively influencing students.
Investigators believe the plan was not limited to Delhi alone. Citing intelligence reports, sources told NDTV that the operation was designed as a multi-state coordinated attack, intended to set India ablaze in retaliation for the killing of Jaish chief Masood Azhar’s family in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
With Irfan Ahmad Wagah’s arrest, authorities say a major terror plot has been foiled, preventing what could have been one of the deadliest attacks on Indian soil in recent years.
With input from agencies