Centre calls Delhi blast ‘terror incident’ as probe net widens

ARush-hour blowup close the red river fort up in new delhi that killed 10 people was a “heinous terror incident” by “anti-national” forces, the Union government confirmed on Wednesday, as security agencies worked to nab the remaining members of a module operating from Faridabad that allegedly carried out the blast.Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the cabinet committee on security and separately met Union home minister Amit Shah and national security adviser Ajit Doval, on a day the Faridabad Police rounded up a red EcoSport car, which they said was owned by the prime suspect of the blast, Umar Un-Nabi, a doctor hailing from Pulwama in Kashmir who was working in Faridabad.Police are also investigating several new suspects, including another doctor from the Al-Falah University in Faridabad that has allegedly emerged as a common link between the main people accused of running the terror module.Also Read | New CCTV video shows terrifying moment car blew up near Red Fort“The country has witnessed a heinous terror incident, perpetrated by anti-national forces, through a car explosion near the Red Fort on the evening of 10 November 2025…the Cabinet reiterates India’s unwavering commitment to a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” said a government statement.Separately, authorities confirmed that 35-year-old doctor Nabi and his alleged associate Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie, visited Turkey in 2022, and that the two men who accompanied Nabi in the Hyundai i20 car that stopped at a petrol pump in Sector 27 Faridabad for a PUC certificate on October 29 were allegedly Amir Rashid Mir, a Kashmir-based plumber, and Sonu, who worked at the second-hand car dealership from where the i20 was eventually purchased by Mir.A senior Special Cell officer said, “Sonu works at a car dealership in Faridabad and was selling the car to Mir and Nabi who found the car through an ad online. Sonu is being questioned. We suspect the men bought the car to carry explosives kept in Ganaie’s rented accommodation in Faridabad. Mir and his brother were helping the module with the car.”At 6.52pm on Monday at Netaji Subhash Marg, a slow-moving i20 – which had been sold multiple times, retrofitted with a CNG tank, and had a registration number HR26CE7674 – blew up at a traffic signal, close to the Lal Quila metro station. The ensuing blaze charred at least 10 people and injured 21.After a manhunt spanning four states, investigators pinned the crime on an extremist module busted in Faridabad allegedly linked to terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and a group of individuals with links to Al Falah University in Haryana.Investigators say they successfully linked JeM posters appearing in Nowgam in Kashmir on October 18, the arrests of three doctors – Adeel Rather from Saharanpur, Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie from Faridabad, and Shaheen Shahid from Lucknow – the recovery of nearly 2,900kg of ammonium nitrate and other explosive material and firearms in Faridabad this week, and the evening blast in Delhi.Police have also arrested Shaheen Shahid’s brother, Parvez Saeed Ansari, Irfan Ahmad Waghay, a maulvi from Shopian, and Mewat resident Hafeez Mohammad Ishtiyaq, an imam at the Al-Falah Mosque from whose house explosives were recovered.Also Read | NIA begins Red Fort blast probe, traces Umar’s final movements Investigators say the prime accused is Nabi, who studied and worked in Kashmir before joining the Al Falah Hospital in Faridabad and who was driving the i20, raising the possibility of a larger coordinated network of terrorists likely getting their instructions from across the border. It is not known whether Nabi died in the explosion.On Wednesday, Delhi Police said Nabi had stepped out of the car at least twice without a mask on Monday – first at Connaught Place and then at Turkman Gate near Delhi Gate — proving that he was behind the wheel of the car that eventually exploded on Monday evening. Police are also looking for Nisar-ul-Hassan, another doctor employed in Al Falah University who was fired by the Kashmir government in 2022 over terror charges but who allegedly became one of Nabi’s associates.The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the case on Tuesday, visited the Red Fort blast site, combing through debris and CCTV footage to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to the deadly explosion, officials familiar with the matter said.Separate NIA teams coordinated with the police in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to collate intelligence gathered on the alleged JeM module believed to be behind the blast. Officials said NIA will soon take custody of several suspects already detained by state police forces.Working closely with the Intelligence Bureau and other agencies, NIA investigators are also reconstructing Nabi’s final journey in the white Hyundai i20 from Faridabad to Delhi. They are analysing whether he met, contacted, or was assisted by anyone on the route. Officials confirmed that Nabi entered Delhi through the Badarpur border around 8am on Monday, spending nearly 10 hours in the Capital before the blast occurred at 6.52pm near Red Fort’s Gate No. 1.Investigators are particularly trying to decode why he parked the car in the Sunheri Masjid parking lot for over three hours before finally driving it to the blast site. Delhi Police Special Cell officers said Nabi went to a mosque on Asaf Ali Road near Ramlila Maidan around 2.30pm, before driving to the Sunehri Masjid parking lot, where he parked the car around 3.19 pm on Monday.Investigators believe Nabi acted “in panic and desperation” after a massive crackdown on his network in Faridabad led to the recovery of nearly 2,900 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, detonators, timers, and assault rifles.“The explosion was caused by panic and desperation due to raids carried out by the security agencies to nab them. The bomb was premature and not fully developed, thus limiting the impact,” said a government official on Tuesday.The i20 was registered in Gurugram in Haryana to a man identified as Mohammed Salman, who sold the vehicle to a man named Devender, a resident of Okhla, around one-and-a-half years ago.On Tuesday, the Delhi Police filed an FIR, invoking sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, including Section 16 (punishment for terrorist acts) and Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy). Additionally, charges under the Explosive Substances Act, specifically Section 3 for causing an explosion likely to endanger life and Section 4 for the attempt to cause an explosion, were added. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was also applied, including sections 103(1) for murder, 109(1) for attempt to murder, and 61(2) for criminal conspiracy.“It is unbelievable what the police and news reports are saying. It is absolutely shocking,” said Waseem Ahangar, Nabi’s cousin.Mir’s mother said his son worked as a plumber in nearby villages. “Amir never travelled out of Kashmir. Police has taken him for investigation. We want justice, he has nothing to do with this,” she said.