Security heightened after Delhi Red Fort blast, measures in place for key places in NCR

Security has been heightened at all border points in Delhi, including the Ghazipur Border between the national capital and Uttar Pradesh.

The Delhi NCR region is seeing heightened security measures after a car blast rocked the national capital’s Red Fort area on Monday, killing 10 people and injuring several others.

A blast took place in a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Lal Quila metro station on Monday evening.(Sanchit Khanna/HT))

The forces have increased surveillance throughout NCR and are on high alert. Security has been heightened at all border points in Delhi, including the Ghazipur Border between the national capital and Uttar Pradesh. All the vehicles passing through the border are being checked.

Measures have also been tightened in several key areas in New Delhi. Mandi House and several other areas are seeing increased police presence and surveillance following Monday's blast.

Several states, like UP, Maharashtra and Bihar, are also on high alert.

A blast took place in a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Lal Quila metro station on Monday evening, killing at least 10 people, injuring 20 and gutting several vehicles.

The powerful explosion tore through the I-20 car at a traffic signal near the Red Fort Metro Station gate number 1. It was so intense that it shattered the windows of vehicles parked several metres away and was heard across nearby buildings.

The probe

Investigators have zeroed in on a doctor based in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, identified as Umar Nabi, who was driving the car used in the explosion and had alleged links to the terror module busted with the recovery of explosives mainly from neighbouring Faridabad in Haryana.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday took a DNA sample from Nabi's mother to establish the relation.

Sources quoted in a PTI report said that the explosion was triggered in panic and desperation after raids by the security agencies across multiple locations in Delhi-NCR and Pulwama to nab suspects believed to be part of the terror module.

"The suspect was likely spooked after the raid in Faridabad, which forced him to relocate hastily, increasing the chance of a mishap. The incident appears to have shifted from a suspected suicide attack to an unintended explosion during transport," a senior police officer said.

However, police are probing all angles, including a suicide bomber attack, the sources said.