Once a promising young doctor from Kashmir’s Pulwama, Dr Umar Mohammad lived a life that, on the surface, symbolised service and success. But on a quiet Monday evening, his name erupted into the headlines of horror — as the man suspected to be behind the deadly car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort that killed at least nine and injured 20 others.

NDTV has accessed what it calls the first picture of Umar, a 36-year-old physician from Al Falah Medical College, whose white Hyundai i20 became the vessel of destruction. The same hands that once prescribed healing are now accused of orchestrating one of Delhi’s most chilling attacks in recent years.

Investigators believe that Umar, cornered and desperate, triggered the explosion himself after learning that police had dismantled a “white collar” terror module — arresting two of his close associates, Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather and Dr Mujammil Shakeel. Both men, also doctors, were taken into custody as part of a joint operation by Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana police, which uncovered 2,900 kilograms of suspected explosives over several days.

Sources say the group used a powerful Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO) mix to execute the attack. CCTV footage shows the white i20 entering Delhi through the Badarpur border and parking near Red Fort for over three hours — from 3:19 pm to 6:30 pm — as if waiting for a signal that never came. Umar, police say, did not step out of the car once.

The vehicle, traced to the registration number HR 26CE7674, had changed hands multiple times — from Salman to Devender, then to Aamir, and finally to Umar himself. Ironically, Aamir, who once posed for a picture holding the car key, is Umar’s brother and is now being questioned by Delhi Police.

In the aftermath, more names have emerged from the medical fraternity, painting a disturbing picture of radicalisation among educated professionals. Dr Adeel Rather, a physician at Anantnag’s Government Medical College, was caught after being seen on CCTV putting up posters praising Jaish-e-Mohammed. Police later found an AK-47 rifle and ammunition in his locker. Another doctor, Muzammil Shakeel, was arrested soon after, while a female doctor, Dr Shaheen Shahid, was found with a rifle and live cartridges in her car.

Meanwhile, in a separate but chillingly similar case, Gujarat ATS arrested Dr Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed for allegedly plotting a Ricin-based terror attack and scouting crowded markets and RSS offices in Lucknow.

The story of Dr Umar Mohammad reads like a grim parable of misplaced conviction — of intellect turned to ruin, of knowledge corrupted by ideology. From healing patients to harming innocents, his life is a haunting reminder of how the line between reason and radicalism can blur — sometimes fatally.