From India Today
A high-intensity blast near the Red Fort in Delhi killed eight people and injured 24 others on Monday evening. Though the reason for the explosion is being probed, it comes on a day police personnel from Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana busted an inter-state terror module, seizing huge quantities of bomb-making material and an assault rifle.
Delhi Police chief Satish Golcha said that around 6.52 pm, a slow-moving vehicle stopped at the red light near Red Fort. “An explosion happened in that vehicle, and due to the explosion, nearby vehicles were also damaged,” said Golcha.
The explosion in Delhi resulted in a high alert across the National Capital, in Mumbai and Kolkata, with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana stepping up surveillance. Officials stated that the explosive chemicals were intended to “spread terror across Delhi”. Here’s what transpired ahead of the blast.
A large cache of explosives was recovered from an apartment in Haryana’s Faridabad on Monday. Officials said 360 kg of ammonium nitrate, along with an additional 2,500 kg of explosive-making chemical was seized.
One assault rifle with three magazines and 83 live rounds, one pistol with eight live rounds, two empty cartridges, and two additional magazines were recovered, reports quoted Faridabad Commissioner of Police Satender Kumar Gupta as saying.
The operation was still underway, Faribadad Commissioner of Police said.
Central to the busting of the module was arrests of medical professionals from Al-Falah University and Hospital in Faridabad. Muzammil Shakeel, a doctor and faculty member, was nabbed from his rented premises where the chemicals were stashed. He faced prior charges related to JeM posters in Srinagar.
Adeel Ahmad Rather, another doctor, was also detained earlier in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly putting up posters in support of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed in Srinagar.
Shaheen Shahid, a female doctor from Lucknow, was questioned after an assault rifle was found in her car, used by Shakeel. An imam named Ishtiyaq, in contact with Shakeel, was also arrested
The module, linked to banned outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGUH), involved radicalised professionals smuggling and storing explosives in Faridabad. The timely bust prevented a potential wave of attacks targeting Delhi . . . A search continues for another implicated doctor in Faridabad
And from the Times of India
Eight people died on Monday evening in a blast that occurred near Gate 1 of Red Fort Metro Station.
Talking about the incident, Delhi fire chief AK Malik said that the blast occurred at 6.55 on Monday evening outside the gate of Chandani Chowk metro station. Eyewitnesses said that panic gripped the area after the explosion, and they were shocked at seeing the loss of lives and body parts. “When we saw someone’s hand on the road, we were absolutely shocked. I can’t explain it in words…” said a local to ANI.
Former DGP AK Jain told PTI that “anything is possible.” He added that, “there could be a blast, a terrorist attack, also there may be a gas cylinder blast, a fuel tank would have caught fire, but such a fire is seldom seen. . . The forensic team reached there, and it will come out whether any explosive material was used. Arrests of terrorists have been ongoing in Faridabad, Gujarat, UP. Maybe there would be their splinter group that carried out this. We need to be alert. The whole country, intelligence agencies need to be alert. If a blast occurs, it is like making a statement against the arrests; soon everything will get clear,” he added.
