Failed marriages, Shaheen’s descent into terrorism

Posted by admin_kas on 2025-11-30 08:50:17 |

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KS News Desk

New Delhi, Nov 29: A doctor, two failed marriages, a newfound love and a slow descent into terrorism – that is the story of a 46-year-old woman, Shaheen Saeed, one of the key accused in the 10/11 blast near the iconic Red Fort in Delhi.Shaheen Saeed and Muzammil Shakeel, the two doctors who lost their licenses following the Delhi blast, married in September 2023 and this union, according to sources, is what introduced Saeed to the world of terrorism and led her to take the path.

Raised in Lucknow’s densely populated Daliganj area, Saeed was a bright student. She pursued a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, or MBBS, from Allahabad and then specialised in pharmacology.

Saeed married ophthalmologist Dr Zafar Hayat in 2003, and the couple had two children. But the relationship did not last long.

The divorce was reportedly a significant blow to Saeed, who started to feel lonely. She abruptly withdrew from the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College, where she used to teach, and stopped attending college without any notice.Saeed remained incommunicado for eight years, said sources, and in 2021, her job was terminated.

She subsequently remarried a man, who ran a textile business in Ghaziabad.

But this marriage also did not last long.Muzammil Shakeel, a Kashmiri doctor, and Saeed’s junior at the Al-Falah University in Haryana’s Faridabad entered the doctor’s life.

Daily meetings, working together at the college, and having similar professions strengthened their bond.

During an interrogation, Shakeel revealed that the two married in September 2023 in a mosque near the Al-Falah University with the former giving a mahr (a mandatory gift in Islamic marriage from the groom to the bride) of around Rs 6,000.

The two started living as a couple and it is during this time, Saeed was introduced to student groups and began participating in religious activities.

During these meetings, she was approached by members of Jamaat ul-Mominaat, the women’s wing of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), who, according to the investigative agencies began training Saeed in radicalism and terrorist ideology.

Shaheen Shahid revealed that she had planned to recruit women to carry out the terrorist act, Faridabad police sources have revealed.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) brought Shahid, a former pharmacologist at Al-Falah University, to the university campus on Thursday in connection with the probe, and that during questioning, she revealed she had planned to recruit women for the mission.

Police sources also revealed that the NIA sleuths recovered Rs 18.5 lakh in cash, along with some gold biscuits and foreign currency, from Shahid’s hostel room at the university.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Saturday sent three doctors and a preacher, who were arrested in connection with the Red Fort blast, to 10 days’ judicial custody.

All four accused, Muzammil Ganaie, Adeel Rather and Shaheena Saeed as well as Maulvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay, were produced before Principal and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna, who sent them to 10-day judicial custody.

As of now, the NIA has arrested seven persons accused in the case, which is linked to a “white-collar” terror module busted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

"The agency continues to pursue various leads in connection with the suicide bombing, and has been conducting searches across states in coordination with the respective police forces in a bid to identify and track others involved in the gruesome attack,” the NIA said in a statement.

Dr Umar-un-Nabi, who was driving the explosives-laden i20 car that detonated outside the Red Fort, had allegedly bought the car in Ali’s name. Wani was arrested after it emerged that Umar had been trying to “brainwash” him to becoming a suicide bomber, officials said.

He was not persuaded but is alleged to have agreed to participate as an Over Ground Worker for the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested an imam and one of his associates from the Banbhulpura area here, in connection with a car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort, officials said on Saturday.

The Delhi Police had received a clue from Haldwani through the call details of a mobile number linked to Dr Umar Nabi, the main accused in the blast outside the Red Fort, and based on it, the accused were arrested, they said.

The accused, Mohammad Asif, the imam of the Bilali mosque, and Nazar Kamal, an electrician, were arrested on Friday night by an team of NIA with the help of police from Delhi and Haldwani, they said, adding that the duo have been taken to Delhi.

Following the arrest, a large force from several police stations, led by Haldwani city Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Katyal and Lal Kuan Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepshikha Agarwal, arrived in Banbhulpura.

Police have tightened security around the Bilali mosque and the imam’s house, Katyal said.

The NIA team and Uttarakhand Police personnel went to a mosque in Nainital to question some people, the official said.

A high-intensity explosion ripped through a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10, killing 15 people and injuring several others. (Agencies)