Multiple Indian accounts on social media platform X since Thursday shared an image of a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), claiming it belonged to the wife of a primary suspect in the Nov 10 Delhi attack. However, the image does not show the CNIC of the suspect’s wife.
A car explosion near Delhi’s iconic Red Fort rocked the national capital on Monday evening. Twelve people died in the incident. Investigators alleged that the explosion was executed by a terror cell linked to Jaish‑i‑Mohammed (JeM), operating through a cell based around Faridabad and Pulwama.
On Thursday, an X user, who appears to be a pro-Indian based on his previous posts, shared an image of a Pakistani CNIC belonging to a woman.
The post was captioned: “Big breaking: Her name is Afeera Bibi, she is a Pakistani citizen, and she is also the wife of Delhi blast terrorist Muhammad Umar. She works for Jaish-i-Mohammed and is also connected to Dr Shaheen, who used to recruit members for JeM in India! Pakistan should start counting their last days.”
The image gained 434,000 views and 5,700 reshares.
Another Indian propaganda account shared the image and claim as well, with the post garnering over 475,000 views.
The image and claim were soon also shared by other Indian accounts, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, collectively gaining more than 372,000 views.
Several users on Facebook also widely shared the image with a similar claim, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and allegations of Pakistan’s link to the attack.
To investigate the viral image, a reverse image search was conducted, which yielded an August 25, 2020, X post of the editor of Indian news outlet CNN-News 18 that included multiple pictures of individuals accused in the Pulwama attack, including the viral CNIC image.
The post was captioned: “More proof that Pakistan can not deny. Not just Umar Farooq, NIA India presents his wife’s ID card too as evidence. Issued by Pakistan. Afeera Bibi, wife of Muhammad Umar (Farooq).” It also used the hashtag “Pulwama”.
A suicide bomber had rammed a car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama on February 14, 2019, killing 40 of them in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in the occupied region.
The X post described Afeera Bibi as the wife of Muhammad Umar Farooq, the primary accused in the Pulwama attack.
Further investigation did establish a link between Afeera Bibi and the current Delhi attack. She is currently being investigated by the Indian authorities in connection with the Delhi attack.
A keyword search to corroborate the identity of Afeera Bibi yielded a YouTube video shared by Indian media outlet Times Now dated November 13, 2025.
The video was titled: “Delhi Car Blast Probe: Afeera Bibi, Wife of Masood Azhar’s Nephew & Pakistan Resident, Under Lens.” It reiterated the fact from 2020 that Afeera was the wife of Muhammad Umar Farooq, but also said that she was in touch with Dr Shaheen Saeed, the “mastermind” of the Delhi car blast at the Red Fort.
Multiple other Indian media outlets such as, Republic World, RTV English, India Today, and News X also reported that Afeera Bibi was in touch with Dr Shaheen during the Red Fort car blast in New Delhi.
However, they all established that she was the wife of the accused in Pulwama and none mentioned her as the wife of the primary accused in the Delhi attack.
Furthermore, the investigation also revealed that the CNIC of Afeera identified her husband as Muhammad Umar Farooq, who was the suspect in the Pulwama attack. According to mainstream Indian media outlets such as NDTV, ANI and Hindustan Times, the name of the primary accused in the Delhi blast is Dr Umar Un Nabi, due to which social media users could perhaps be establishing the connection.
Meanwhile, the CNIC of the Pulwama attack suspect mentions the name as Muhammad Umar Farooq, according to multiple Indian media outlets.
The viral CNIC of Afeera Bibi mentions her husband’s name as Muhammad Umar. The woman is not the wife of the Delhi attack’s prime suspect; she is being investigated in connection with the attack.
Therefore, the fact-check determined that the claim that a viral image of a Pakistani CNIC shows the wife of the Delhi attack’s primary suspect is false. The woman in the viral CNIC image is not the wife of the Delhi attack’s prime suspect.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
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