New Delhi, 16 Nov

In a major breakthrough in Delhi’s Red Fort car bomb blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Kashmir resident who had allegedly conspired with "suicide bomber" Dr Umar Un Nabi to carry out the terror attack, which claimed 13 lives.

Amir Rashid Ali, in whose name the car involved in the blast was registered, has been arrested from Delhi by the NIA, the federal probeagency said in a release.

The NIA had launched a massive search operation after taking over the case from the Delhi Police.

Investigation by the probe agency had revealed that the accused, a resident of Samboora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pampore, had conspired with the "suicide bomber", Umar, to unleash the terror attack.

Amir had come to Delhi to allegedly facilitate the purchase of the car, which was eventually used as a "vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED)" to trigger the blast, the NIA said.

This was the first time the probe agency has described Dr Umar Un Nabi, who was behind the wheel when the car exploded near the Red Fort on 10 November, as a "suicide bomber". Also, NIA has for the first time used the term "vehicle-borne IED" for the car.

The NIA has forensically established the identity of the deceased driver of the "vehicle-borne IED" as Umar Un Nabi, a resident of Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir and an assistant professor in the general medicine department of Al Falah University in Faridabad.

The anti-terror agency has also seized another vehicle belonging to Umar. The vehicle is being examined for evidence in the case, in which NIA has so far examined 73 witnesses, including those injured in the blast.

Working in close coordination with Delhi Police, Jammu andKashmir Police, Haryana Police, Uttar Pradesh Police and various sister agencies, the NIA is continuing its investigation across states.

It is pursuing multiple leads to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the "bombing" and identify others involved in the case, the release said.