Massive Delhi Blast Near Red Fort Hours After 2,900 Kg Explosives Seized in Faridabad
Thirteen people were killed and 24 injured in a car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday evening, just hours after police seized 2,900 kg of explosives in Faridabad. NIA and forensic teams are investigating possible links between the two incidents.
Rescue teams and police officials at the site of the car blast near Red Fort Metro Station in Delhi. Several vehicles caught fire following the explosion.
Just hours after explosives weighing nearly 2,900 kg were seized from two residential buildings in Faridabad in Haryana, another catastrophic explosion near Delhi's Red Fort on Monday night claimed 13 lives while injuring another 24.
The blast occurred outside Lal Qila Metro Station Gate 1, one of the busiest areas in the national capital. According to eyewitnesses, the bath was horrendous, with several vehicles set ablaze, and debris-laden roads. Terrifying visuals showed a car in a twisted state and a van torn apart by the detonation.
According to Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha, the blast took place around 6:52 PM when a slow-moving vehicle stopped at a traffic signal near Red Fort. “An explosion occurred in that vehicle, damaging nearby cars and injuring multiple people. We are monitoring the situation closely. Home Minister Amit Shah has been briefed,” Golcha said.
Sources indicated the vehicle involved may have been a Hyundai i20.
Home Minister Amit Shah has spoken to Delhi Police officials and briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation. All security and intelligence agencies have been placed on high alert, with enhanced surveillance at critical sites, including the Indo-Nepal border.
Nearly two dozen ambulances rushed to the scene as rescue teams worked to move the injured to nearby hospitals. Forensic experts and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have been deployed to collect evidence and determine the nature of the explosive material used.
Link to Faridabad Explosives Case
The Delhi blast came just hours after the Jammu and Kashmir Police recovered a massive cache of explosives weighing nearly 3,000 kg from two residential buildings in Faridabad, Haryana.
The materials included 350 kg of ammonium nitrate, commonly used to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The seizure followed the arrest of Dr. Adil Rather, a J&K-based doctor linked to terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, who was apprehended in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, after being spotted putting up terror-linked posters in Srinagar.
Another doctor named in this case is a certain Dr. Muzammil Shakeel of Al-Falah Hospital, Faridabad. His houses were raided by police and 12 suitcases were found there, full of explosives, apart from detonators and timers.
A female associate to the accused has been arrested with an assault rifle and ammunition in her car. Further weapons were discovered from a locker in a medical college in Anantnag where Dr. Rather used to work.
There is a belief among investigators that this group forms part of an inter-state terror module linked with Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghawat-ul-Hind, an al-Qaeda-affiliated network. Till now, eight suspects have been arrested in connection with the case.
