The family home of Dr Umar Nabi, who allegedly drove the car that exploded outside the Red Fort Metro station in Delhi on Monday, was razed in his hometown of Koil in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Most of Nabi’s family, including his parents, brother and sister-in-law, lived in the two-storey house that had a small yard in front. Officials in Pulwama said on Friday morning that the house in Koil was blown up overnight after moving the residents out.
While houses of those accused in militancy-related cases have been previously attached under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), prior to Friday, the only time houses of accused were razed in Kashmir was in the aftermath of April’s terror attack in Pahalgam.
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On April 24, security forces demolished the home of Adil Ahmad Thoker in Bijbehara, one of the suspects in the Pahalgam case at the time. Over the next three days, similar joint teams of security forces blew up the houses of families or relatives of nine other terrorists — from an 18-year-old who joined militancy less than six months ago, to a man from Kupwara who crossed over to Pakistan 35 years ago, allegedly for arms training and never returned.
The move has previously been criticised by the political leadership of the Valley, terming it “collective punishment” against the people.
The J&K Police has not so far issued any formal statement on the action taken in Koil.
Nabi had been employed at the School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre at Al Falah University at Dhauj in Faridabad.
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Two other doctors at the university, Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganai, also from Koil, and Dr Shaheen Shahid Ansari from Lucknow, were picked up by police in the days before the blast.
