A Hyundai i20 hatchback with Haryana number plates was the epicentre of a high-intensity blast near Delhi’s Red Fort Monday evening, sources told NDTV. Eight people were killed and 20 injured in a blast that caused 22 nearby vehicles, including an e-rickshaw, to burst into flames.
Sources told NDTV the car’s original owner was a Mohd Salman who then sold it to a Nadeem.
Salman has been arrested by police in Haryana’s Gurugram.
Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha told reporters, “Today at 6.52 pm a slow-moving vehicle stopped at the red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle and, due to the explosion, nearby vehicles were also damaged. Some people have died and some have been injured.”
“The situation is being monitored. Home Minister (Amit Shah) called us.. ” he said.
The Home Minister has, in turn, briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer AK Malik told news agnecy ANI the fire that resulted from the blast was brought under control only at 7.29 pm, adding that seven units had been initially rushed to the spot.
Hyundai i20 Or Maruti Swift Dzire?
Delhi Police sources told NDTV the explosion may have happened in a Hyundai i20 car.
However, some eyewitnesses claimed the car was a Maruti Swift Dzire, a subcompact sedan.
Information is understandably sketchy at this time.
It does, however, appear the car was carrying several people and the blast occurred in the rear of the vehicle, possibly in the boot. The explosion was powerful but no craters were left.
Forensic analysts, including those from India’s premier anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency, are on-site collecting data and evidence, and are working to identify the vehicle make, model, and registration number, all of which will be critical to finding the guilty.
The nature of the blast is unclear at this time, but all state security agencies are on high alert, and security has also been ramped up at the Indo-Nepal border, where stationed Border Security Force troops and intelligence officials are monitoring all visitors crossing the open border with that country.
Blast hours after explosives found in Faridabad
The materials – which included 350kg of ammonium nitrate, a commonly-used fertiliser that can be turned into a deadly bomb – were seized based on intel from arrested J&K-based doctor, Adil Rather.
READ | ‘No One Suspects Doctors’: Terror Plot Behind Faridabad Explosives Haul
Rather had been arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur Sunday after CCTV footage showed him pasting posters in support of terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed across Srinagar.
The investigation also revealed the name of another medical professional from J&K, Muzammil Shakeel, who was working at the Al-Falah Hospital in Faridabad. According to hospital records he lived on campus. However, police found at least two off-campus homes linked to him.
READ | 350 kg Explosives, Rifle Found Near Delhi, 2 J&K Doctors Arrested
When these were raided, the cops were shocked to find 12 suitcases packed with explosive material. Items related to explosive devices, such as detonators and timers, were also found.
An as-yet-unnamed female colleague, in whose Maruti Suzki Swift Dzire sub-compact sedan an assault rifle and some ammunition had been stored, has also been arrested. A second rifle and more ammunition was found inside a staff locker at the GMC in Anantnag, where Rather worked till last year.
NDTV Special | White Collar Terror Ecosystem In J&K, 2,900 kg Of IED-Making Material
Earlier today, referring to the raids, arrests, and recoveries in J&K and Faridabad, the police said they had cracked an inter-state and transnational terrorist module linked to at least two banned terrorist organisations – the Pak-based Jaish and the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an al-Qaeda affiliated group.
Apart from Rather, Shakeel, and the woman doctor, five others have been arrested so far.