Blast triggered by panic? Doubt lingers over Red Fort blast after new findings

NEW DELHI: More details emerged about the blast near the Red Fort in New Delhi on Monday night. Intelligence agencies concluded that the blast near Gate No. 1 of the Lal Qila (Red Fort) Metro Station was not a premeditated one. National media reports that investigative sources suspect that the blast was not a suicide attack and that panic during the transportation of explosives would have triggered the culprit to carry out the blast.

The IED was not fully constructed. The initial conclusion is that it was a low-intensity explosion. It is believed that the explosion may have occurred while the explosives were being moved to another location in a car in the panic following the seizure of 2,900 kilograms of explosives in Faridabad and raids at various places.

A white i20 car that had slowed down near a traffic signal exploded on Monday evening. The fire spread to other vehicles. 13 people were killed, and more than 30 injured. The car was driven by a doctor named Umar Nabi, a native of Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had responded that all possible investigations would be carried out into the incident and that those behind the crime would not be spared. The seizure of 2,900 kg of explosives in Faridabad was also based on the statements of doctors arrested for their links to terrorism.