नवीनतम
Red Fort car blast: Death toll mounts to 12
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The death toll in the blast that occurred in a car near the Red Fort metro station in the national capital on Monday evening has risen to 12, police said.
Delhi Police on Tuesday said it has registered an FIR under the UAPA and the Explosives Act in the Red Fort car blast that shook the national capital on Monday evening. A high-intensity explosion ripped through a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station at 6.52 pm, killing at least 12 people, leaving 20 others injured and gutting multiple vehicles.
Multiple security agencies, including the Delhi police and the NIA, among others, are jointly investigating the incident to ascertain whether it was a suicide bomber attack since the car, which exploded, may have had at least one occupant. A senior police officer said that the blast occurred in a moving Hyundai i20 car.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the situation following the blasts. In a post on X, he said, “Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the blast in Delhi earlier this evening. May the injured recover at the earliest. Those affected are being assisted by authorities. Reviewed the situation with Home Minister Amit Shah Ji and other officials”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the blast site and also met the victims at the LNJP Hospital, spoke to the Delhi police chief and the director of the Intelligence Bureau to take stock of the situation. Speaking to the media hours after the incident, Shah said,” We are keeping all angles open and investigating from all angles. It is very difficult to say what caused the incident”.
“Until the samples recovered from the blast site are analysed by FSL and NSG, it is difficult to say anything about it. However, we do not consider any angle closed. We will investigate all angles with determination,” he added. Later, authorities informed that the Home Minister has called for a high-level meeting over the Delhi blast on Tuesday, along with top officials from the CAPF, the Indian Army, IB, R&AW, and other stakeholders.
Expressing anguish over the incident, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, wrote on X, “ The news of the car explosion near Delhi's Red Fort Metro Station is extremely heartbreaking and concerning. The report of the deaths of several innocent people in this tragic incident is profoundly sorrowful”.
“In this hour of grief, I stand with the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones and express my deepest condolences to them. I hope for the swift recovery of all the injured,” he added.
Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha, who inspected the blast site, told reporters that there was a blast around 6.52 pm in a slow-moving vehicle at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station. Ten fire tenders were rushed to the spot as police cordoned off the area, the Delhi Fire Services said. The blaze caused by the blast was brought under control by 7.29 pm, officials said.
Late evening, Delhi Police detained the car owner, Mohd Salman and questioned him about the vehicle. Salman had sold it to a person named Devendra in Okhla a year and a half ago. Later, the vehicle was sold to someone in Ambala and then again sold to a man named Tariq in Pulwama.
Delhi Police sources said the person driving the car allegedly also had links to the Faridabad terror module, where a huge cache of explosive material was recently seized. Quoting sources, PTI reported that Umar Mohammad, a Pulwama resident and a doctor, was allegedly driving the i20 car and could be the suicide bomber in the case.
Preliminary findings by police, according to sources, suggest ammonium nitrate, fuel oil and detonators may have been used in the blast.'I Saw People Burning': Eyewitness Recounts Moments After BlastThere was mayhem at the site after the blast, as the area is among the most crowded in Delhi, given its proximity to the Chandni Chowk market. Eyewitnesses recalled harrowing scenes, including humans in flames and body parts strewn across the place.
Among the first on the scene was Dharmender, a commuter who was walking home when the blast occurred. Speaking to ETV Bharat, he recalled the moments of panic, "I saw people burning, people running away from the car. It’s good to save yourself, but if someone is burning in front of you, you should try to save them too. I was shouting, asking people to help. Nobody was coming. I forcibly pulled one man out of the car. No one’s body was intact. There were body parts lying on the ground."Those injured were taken to the LNJP Hospital, a few kilometres away. Eyewitnesses said the explosion was deafening and they were unable to hear anything clearly after several minutes. The loud blast was heard over a wide area up to ITO, covering around two kilometres, they said. It shattered the window panes of vehicles parked several metres away and the glass panels of the Red Fort metro station.
