DRONE STRIKE PLOT: TERRORISTS EYED HAMAS-STYLE ATTACK IN DELHI

BACKGROUND AND INVESTIGATION

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) discovered this huge weaponized drone threat after it arrested a second terror suspect who worked with the suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi.
• The white collar terror module involved in the Delhi suicide car bomb attack planned to modify drones to weaponise them, and make rockets for use before the November 10 terror strike near the Red Fort, investigators have said.

STRATEGIC INSPIRATION

• An attempt of this sort would draw parallels with the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 when it used drones as the main weapon of mass destruction and disruption.
• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) discovered this huge threat after it arrested a second terror suspect who worked with the suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi.
• Jasir Bilal Wani also known as Danish, who is a resident of Jammu and Kashmir as the first suspect Amir Rashid Ali arrested from Delhi yesterday, was caught in Srinagar by an NIA team.
• Danish allegedly provided technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the deadly car bomb blast, the NIA said.
• The terror suspect from Anantnag district worked as an active co-conspirator behind the attack by the white collar module and its suicide bomber, Nabi, the NIA said, adding it is looking at all angles and pursuing multiple leads.
• Danish tried to make powerful drones fitted with large batteries that can carry heavier bombs along with cameras.
• He has experience in making small weaponized drones.
• The terror module planned to send a weaponized drone over a crowded area for maximum casualties, sources said, adding that groups such as Hamas and many in war-torn Syria have used such a tactic.
• Many nations these days know terrorists can use drones. To counter the threat, they have prepared themselves to varying levels depending on their technological capability. India, too, has been strengthening its drone strike and anti-drone units at scale.

Editor’s Note

• This story is a stark reminder of how modern terrorism is evolving faster than our collective ability to imagine it. The Delhi module’s chilling ambition — to replicate Hamas-style drone warfare on Indian soil — signals a dangerous new frontier where inexpensive technology becomes a weapon of mass disruption. What once required armies and arsenals can now be engineered in living rooms and backrooms by so-called “white collar” operatives with technical know-how and extremist intent. The NIA’s swift arrests prevented a catastrophe, but the revelations demand more than relief. They compel us to confront a future where the battlefield is no longer distant, and where drones — tools of innovation — can be twisted into engines of devastation. As investigators trace the network and motives behind this plot, one thing is clear: India must accelerate its preparedness, strengthen counter-drone capabilities, and deepen intelligence cooperation before such threats outpace our defenses. This is not merely a security alert — it is a wake-up call. The cost of complacency in the drone era is measured in lives, and vigilance is now our most critical line of defence.
• #delhiblast #droneterrorplot #hamasstyleattack #niainvestigation