Delhi Red Fort blast: 8 dead, probe teams piece together chain of events as capital on high alert | Top developments

The explosion occurred round 6:52 pm on Netaji Subhash Marg, near the Crimson Fort Metro Station, because the automobile got here to a halt at a visitors sign. Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha stated the following blaze unfold quickly, engulfing at the least six automobiles, two e-rickshaws, an auto-rickshaw and a bus. A lot of the accidents, officers stated, had been brought on by burns.

Safety has been stepped up throughout the nation as a precaution, with excessive alerts issued for the NCR, Mumbai and Pune. Patrols and checks have been intensified at authorities buildings, metro stations, airports, and crowded markets reminiscent of Sarojini Nagar, in addition to throughout NCR cities together with Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad.

In the meantime, investigators have detained two earlier homeowners of the Hyundai i20 as a part of efforts to hint the automobile’s chain of possession and decide the way it ended up on the blast website.

Delhi Crimson Fort blast: High developments

1. Authorities are nonetheless attempting to find out what triggered the explosion. “We’re exploring all potentialities and can conduct a radical investigation, taking all potentialities into consideration,” Union residence minister Amit Shah stated
2. Shah stated that specialised groups from the Delhi Police Crime Department, Particular Cell, NSG, NIA, and FSL had been on the scene inside ten minutes.
3. Whereas officers haven’t dominated out foul play, one officer accustomed to the probe stated investigators are inspecting whether or not the blast could have been brought on by an explosive gadget being transported that went off by accident.
4. In keeping with an earlier PR report, the officer, who requested to not be named, famous that the depth of the explosion and the ensuing warmth didn’t appear like a CNG cylinder blast as theorised initially. He instructed the attainable use of ammonia gel or an identical explosive.
5. As per the registration papers of the automobile, shared by investigators, the automobile had been retrofitted with a CNG tank, resulting in early confusion concerning the trigger.
6. A senior Particular Cell officer advised PR, “No nails, no splinters, no shrapnel, no wires, no chemical substances had been discovered on the spot and no suspicious particles had been discovered both.”
7. Investigators have detained two earlier homeowners of the i20 to hint its chain of sale. Gurugram Police stated the automobile was initially registered to a person named Mohammed Salman. “He bought the automobile to a person named Devender, a resident of Okhla, round one-and-a-half years in the past,” stated Sandeep Kumar, spokesperson for the Gurugram Police.
8. “We’ve handed over Salman to the Delhi Police. Devender has been arrested, and each are being questioned to hint the next sale,” he added.
9. Devender advised police that he later bought the automobile to a person named Tariq, who in flip bought it to somebody in Ambala. Investigators are nonetheless attempting to find the final purchaser.
10. Early CCTV evaluation suggests the automobile was parked for almost two hours in quite a bit beside the Crimson Fort earlier than the explosion. Footage reveals the i20 arriving close to the monument’s Shantivan Marg facet round 4 pm with three occupants.
11. Round two hours later, it was seen leaving the parking zone, taking a U-turn close to Outdated Delhi Railway Station, after which heading in direction of Decrease Subhash Marg – the place it exploded moments later. The world round Subhash Marg stays sealed off, with probe groups analysing materials proof by the night time.
12. Hospital officers stated among the many injured had been 14 residents of Delhi, three from Uttar Pradesh, one from Uttarakhand, and one from Himachal Pradesh.

(With inputs from PR correspondents)