Team News Riveting
New Delhi, November 10
Thirteen people were killed and 30 others were injured in a high-intensity explosion that ripped through a car with passengers Monday evening near Delhi’s historic Red Fort.
The blast took place in a white Hyundai i20 car at 6.52 near the Red Fort Metro Station, leaving mangled bodies and wrecked cars scattered in the busy area. Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha told reporters that the blast took place in a slow-moving vehicle that stopped at the Red Fort traffic signal.
There were occupants in the car, he said, adding that the blast damaged cars nearby. Golcha said the blast caused 22 nearby vehicles, including an e-rickshaw, to burst into flames. The Hyundai i20 car had a Haryana registration number.
NDTV reported that car’s original owner was a person named Mohd Salman. He had sold it to Nadeem. Salman has been arrested by police in Haryana’s Gurugram.
India’s premier terror probe agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and the National Security Guard have joined the investigations.
An auto driver, an eye-witness who got injured due to the blast, said the car in front of him was about two feet away. I don’t know whether there was a bomb in it or something else, but it exploded. “I saw a huge fireball from the terrace of my house. There was a huge sound. The blast shook the windows of the buildings,” said a witness.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who chaired a high-level meeting before moving to the site, said they were probing all angles. Shah briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the incident. The Delhi Police Commissioner and chiefs of the NIA and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are regularly updating the Home Minister about the situation, sources in the government said.
Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Haryana, Punjab, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand are on high alert, and so is Bihar, which is set to vote in the second and final round of polling tomorrow. Authorities in Kerala have also directed the police to strengthen security across the state. All major railway stations across the country are also on high alert.
The 17th-century Mughal-built Red Fort, also known as Lal Qila, is located in the congested old quarters of Delhi and is a popular tourist destination. The area is also home to the Chandni Chowk Market, one of the busiest and oldest markets in Delhi, which sees 4-6 lakh daily visitors.
The blast hours after explosives found in Faridabad. The police had seized materials that included 350 kg ammonium nitrate, a commonly-used fertilizers that can be turned into a deadly bomb – were seized based on intel from arrested J&K-based doctor, Adil Rather.
