NIA court declares absconding Delhi blast accused Muzaffar Rather 'proclaimed offender'
Srinagar (PTI): An NIA court here declared Dr Muzaffar Ahmad Rather, an accused in the white collar terror module busted by Srinagar police in October that was behind the November 10 car blast near Delhi's Red Fort, a proclaimed offender under Section 84 of the BNSS.
The proclamation notice, issued by a special judge designated under the NIA Act last week, was pasted on the house of Rather at Qazigund on Saturday, officials said.
The court has directed Rather to be present before it on January 28, 2026, they said.
“Proclamation is hereby made that Dr Muzaffar Ahmad Rather is required to appear before this court on 28.01.2026 at 10 am sharp to answer the complaint,” the court order read.
Rather, whose brother Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather was arrested in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh earlier, is believed to be in Afghanistan.
The entire module was busted after Srinagar police began an investigation into the pasting of posters that threatened police and security forces on walls in Bunpora, Nowgam, in mid-October.
The trail led the investigators to the Al Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana, where Dr Muzzafar Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Sayeed were arrested, and 2,900 kg of explosive material was seized in November.
Investigators believe a core trio of doctors -- Dr Ganaie, Dr Umar Nabi (the driver of the explosives-laden car that blew up near the Red Fort, killing 15), and Muzzaffar Rather -- were running the module.
Section 84 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) deals with the procedure for declaring a person a 'proclaimed offender' when he/she absconds to avoid a warrant, requiring public proclamation through local reading, posting on their home/village, affixing to the court, and potential newspaper publication.
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Three killed as fire destroys huts in Thane district
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Thane (PTI): Three persons were killed in a major fire that broke out in a slum cluster in Thane district of Maharashtra, triggering the explosion of multiple LPG cylinders, a civic official said on Saturday.
The blaze erupted at around 8.30 PM on Friday in the Navghar area of Mira Bhayander at Indralok slum colony, Chief Fire Officer of Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) Prakash Borade told PTI.
Flames were visible from a long distance as the fire quickly spread through the densely packed cluster of temporary huts made of thatch and cloth, he said.
Around 30 to 35 huts were gutted in the incident. Several gas cylinders exploded during the blaze. Fire personnel managed to remove as many as 24 cylinders from the site, some of them filled and others empty, the official said.
Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly an hour before bringing it under control, Borade said.
The three deceased were charred beyond recognition, and their bodies have been sent to a government hospital for postmortem, he added.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
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