SRINAGAR/CHANDIGARH: The conspirators of the Red Fort blast in Delhi were planning to weaponise drones with explosives and rockets, officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Monday, a day after arresting a key associate of alleged suicide bomber Dr Umar un Nabi.

The agency arrested Jasir Bilal Wani, alias Danish, from Srinagar saying that he was an active co-conspirator.

The multi-state, multi-agency investigation into the attack continued on Monday, with investigators taking further crucial steps in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi, among other states.

Jasir is a resident of Qazigund in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district and had provided technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the deadly car bomb blast near the Red Fort.

Jasir and his uncle Nabeel Ahmad were picked up by the Jammu and Kahsmir Police a few days back during the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, Jasir’s father Bilal Ahmad Wani, a dry fruit seller, died of burn injuries in a Srinagar hospital on Monday after he had immolated himself the previous day due to the detention of his brother Ahmad and Jasir in the blast probe case.