Preliminary probe suggests Red Fort car blast part of larger terror plan
The Red Fort car blast in Delhi, killing eight including the occupants, may be linked to a larger terror plan. Investigators are probing connections with the busted Faridabad module, tracing the vehicle’s route, and securing Delhi against further potential attacks.
New Delhi: The white Hyundai i20 car that exploded on Netaji Subhash Marg in Delhi near the Red Fort was parked outside a Mosque for nearly two hours before the incident.
The investigations show that the car that exploded, claiming the lives of eight people, including the three occupants, was parked outside the Sunheri Masjid before the incident.
The police managed to piece together the route of the vehicle by obtaining CCTV footage from the area.
The footage shows the three occupants of the car driving from Daryaganj Market towards the Mosque’s parking lot near the Red Fort at around 4 p.m.
The blast took place at around 6.31 p.m., the police said. The car then took a U-turn near the Old Delhi Railway Station and then headed towards Lower Subhash Marg.
The car slowed down at the traffic signal on Chhata Rail Chowk, and then the explosion occurred, the police said.
It is, however, unclear whether the explosion was meant to take place at the signal or the occupants intended to ram the car into the Red Fort, officials said.
The trail of the car’s ownership is also under investigation. It has been found that the car was sold several times.
The vehicle bore the registration number HR26CE7674. It was first registered in 2014 to one Mohammad Salman, a resident of Gurugram. Following this, the car had been sold multiple times.
Salman sold it to a person called Devender, following which it was sold to a person in Ambala.
The current owner of the car remains unknown, and investigators are working on that aspect.
The registered owner, however, is under arrest and being questioned.
Multiple agencies are working on the case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Intelligence Bureau and the Delhi Police’s Anti-Terror Unit are part of the probe.
The Ambala Police, too, have launched a parallel investigation into the case.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that a comprehensive investigation is being made and all angles are being looked into.
Meanwhile, a high alert is in place in Delhi and the neighbouring states.
The agencies suspect that this incident could be linked to the busting of the Faridabad module.
In the national capital, security is at an all-time high with additional police and CISF personnel being deployed.
All government buildings and other sensitive spots in the city have been secured.
The police are also probing deep into the Faridabad module as they suspect that it could be linked to this incident.
When the module was busted, the police recovered 2,900 kilograms of explosives. This has led to the suspicion that the module may have planned many more attacks in Delhi and the neighbouring states.
An official confirmed that the module had planned on carrying out a series of attacks by loading cars with explosives.
The plan may have been to park explosive-laden cars at all major locations in Delhi, including the Delhi Metro and then trigger off blasts.
Prime facie, it appears that the intention was to drive the vehicles into important structures, thus orchestrating a wave of suicide bombings in the national capital, officials also said.
