New Delhi, Nov 11 :
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with top officials of probe agencies on the Delhi blast and instructed them to quickly hunt down each culprit.
In a message on X, HM Shah shared details of the incident and said, “Chaired review meetings on the Delhi car blast with the senior officials. Instructed them to hunt down each and every culprit behind this incident. Everyone involved in this act will face the full wrath of our agencies.”
In the morning, the Home Minister took a briefing from security agencies on the investigation and the multi-state searches being conducted.
During the meeting, HM Shah reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to bring the culprits to justice.
Chairing a meeting at his residence with top security officials, the Home Minister issued strict instructions to officials to get to the bottom of the conspiracy at the earliest.
The meeting was attended by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka, Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha and National Investigation Agency (NIA) Director General (DG) Sadanand Vasant Date, while the Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat joined virtually.
A team of more than 500 security officials has been formed to investigate the blast, while security has been ramped up across Delhi-NCR, with NSG commandos deployed at key installations.
More than 1,000 CCTV footage clips are being scanned by investigative agencies, which suspect that the car explosion could have been a suicide attack aimed at causing maximum damage, Delhi Police sources said.
Death Toll Rises to 12;
Investigative agencies are also monitoring social media activity and collecting mobile phone dump data from several locations across Delhi.
According to police sources, dump data is being retrieved from all mobile phones that were active in and around the Red Fort area. This data may help identify phone numbers and communication links connected to the car bombing.
HM Shah directed the NIA, IB, and Delhi Police Special Cell to work in tandem, vowing, “No stone will be left unturned”.
High alerts have been issued in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Mumbai, with security around crowded public places and religious sites enhanced.
The blast occurred on Monday evening when a Haryana-registered car, a Hyundai i20, near Gate No.1 of the Red Fort Metro Station exploded, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking in Bhutan, assured action against the conspirators behind the blast.
He stated that Indian agencies will get to the bottom of the conspiracy and assured that those behind the blast “will not be spared”.
In his remarks at Changlimethang Ground in Thimphu, PM Modi said, “Today, I come here with a very heavy heart. The horrific incident that took place in Delhi yesterday evening has deeply saddened everyone. I understand the grief of the affected families. Today, the entire nation stands with them. I was in touch with all the agencies investigating this incident throughout last night…Our agencies will get to the bottom of this conspiracy. The conspirators behind this will not be spared. All those responsible will be brought to justice.”
Earlier, the BJP criticised the Congress and its allies for working against national interest and trying to politicise the terror attack.
Amit Malviya, in charge of the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, said on X, “If being shameless and working against national interest had a face, it would look exactly like the Congress.”
“The problem with our Opposition and the loony far-Left ecosystem is that they simply do not know how to stand with the country in times of need,” he said.
Meanwhile, The death toll in the blast near Red Fort has increased to 12, Delhi Police said on Tuesday, according to PTI. So far, at least three of the deceased have been identified. They include two friends from Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha — Lokesh Agarwal, a fertiliser trader, and Ashok Kumar, and Amar Kataria (35) of Delhi’s Sriniwaspuri area.
According to police, the Amroha duo were returning home from Delhi after visiting a sick relative when the explosion occurred. The remaining deceased are yet to be identified. According to Delhi hospital records, 20 people sustained injuries in the incident, and all have been identified.
The injured include 18 men and 2 women, residents from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. The two women injured in the blast are Shaina Parveen (23) and Geeta (26), both from Delhi.
The 18 injured men have been identified as Harshul (28), Shiva Jaiswal (32), Sameer (26), Joginder (28), Bhawani Sahnkar Sahmra (30), Vinay Pathak (50), Pappu (53), Vinod (55), Shivam Jha (21), Aman (26), Mohd Sahnwaz (35), Ankush Sharma (28), Mohd Farukh (55), Tilak Raj (45), Mohd Safwan (28), Mohd Daud (31), Kishori (42), Azad (34).
Indian Railways has beefed up security arrangements at stations, tracks, and its establishments in the wake of the Red Fort car blast on Monday evening. Several areas have been placed on high alert, with strict checking being done at stations.
Dilip Kumar, Executive Director (I&P) Railway Board, told ETV Bharat on Tuesday that both Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel are on high alert and are keeping strict vigil at stations and trains for the safety of passengers. “Stations and trains are being checked with sniffer dogs squared in coordination with security personnel,” he said.
Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer, Northern Railway, said RPF and GRP personnel are keeping a strict vigil at station premises through CCTV cameras.
“Security checks of all empty rakes are being conducted with sniffer dogs after joint checking and the safety measures have been undertaken by the RPF wing to enhance security arrangements in order to ensure safety of railway establishment as well as passengers. CCTV monitoring is being made more meticulous and intensive.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has also enhanced security arrangements at Metro Stations and IGI Airport after the blast incident. “In the wake of the explosion in a vehicle near Red Fort Metro Station, installations secured by CISF in the National Capital Region (NCR), including Delhi Metro, Red Fort, Government Buildings and IGI Airport have been placed on high alert. The situation is being constantly monitored and personnel are on standby,” CISF said on X.
Amid a multi-agency probe into the Delhi car blast case, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a high-level security review meeting at 11 am today. Sources in MHA told ETV Bharat that Union Home Secretary, Director IB, Delhi Police Commissioner, DG NIA and other officials will attend the meeting. DGP Jammu and Kashmir will virtually join the meeting, they said.
Shah had visited the site of the blast on Monday night and also the Lok Nayak Hospital, where those injured in the blast are being treated. He also held a meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha and other officials.
“This evening, around 7 pm, a blast occurred in a Hyundai i20 car at the Subhash Marg traffic signal near the Red Fort in Delhi. The blast injured some pedestrians and damaged some vehicles. Preliminary reports indicate that some people have lost their lives. Within 10 minutes of receiving the information of the blast, teams from the Delhi Crime Branch and Delhi Special Branch arrived at the spot,” Shah said on Monday night.
He added that the NSG and NIA teams, along with the FSL, have now begun a thorough investigation and orders have been given to examine all nearby CCTV cameras.
“I have also spoken to the Delhi CP and the Special Branch in-charge. The Delhi CP and the Special Branch in-charge are present at the spot. We are exploring all possibilities and will conduct a thorough investigation, taking all possibilities into account. All options will be investigated immediately and we will present the results to the public,” he said.
Prime Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that all conspirators of the Delhi blast that killed 12 people will be “brought to justice”.
Addressing a gathering at the Changlimithang celebration ground here in Bhutan, the prime minister said that Monday’s “horrifying” blast in Delhi shocked everyone.
“I understand the plight of those affected by the blast,” he said, stressing that today the entire nation stands with the families of the victims.
“All those responsible for it will be brought to justice,” the prime minister said.
Modi said he was in a meeting with agencies and people involved in the blast’s investigation overnight on Tuesday.
Our agencies will get to the bottom of the conspiracy, and no conspirator will be spared, he said.
The high-intensity explosion ripped through a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station on Monday evening, killing 12 people and gutting several vehicles.
Prime Minister Modi arrived in Bhutan earlier in the day for a two-day visit during which he will join the 70th birthday celebrations of the fourth king of the Himalayan nation Jigme Singye Wangchuck.
