Red Fort blast: CCTV shows i20 parked near mosque for hours before explosion

CCTV footage reviewed by investigators shows the driver wearing a blue and black T-shirt, police sources told NDTV. Another image captures the white Hyundai i20 driving through a busy stretch in central Delhi shortly before the explosion.

According to investigators, the suspected suicide bomber did not step out of the car even once while it was parked for several hours near the Red Fort. “He was either waiting for someone or awaiting instructions in the parking lot,” a source told NDTV.

The footage also shows the vehicle moving slowly toward a traffic light moments before the blast. Police said three people were inside the car, all of whom were killed in the explosion.

Pulwama link under scanner

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the blast site, said multiple agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), were probing the incident from all angles.

“All possibilities are being explored and a thorough investigation will be conducted, taking all options into account,” Shah said.

Disturbing visuals from the scene showed mangled bodies and damaged vehicles strewn across the area. Ambulances rushed the injured to Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP) as security forces cordoned off the site.

Authorities have invoked sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) after initial forensic evidence and intelligence inputs pointed to possible terror links. A high alert was issued across major Indian cities, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Hyderabad, and Lucknow, as well as in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttarakhand.

The explosion came on the same day that police in Faridabad, about 50 km from Delhi, discovered a massive cache of 2,900 kg of explosives. Investigators are examining a potential link between the blast and a so-called “white-collar” terror module.

Sources said the i20 was registered in Haryana to a man named Salman, who told police he had sold it months earlier. The vehicle was later traced to Tariq, a resident of Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, though ownership records were never officially updated. The car was previously fined for illegal parking in Faridabad on September 20, 2025.

Officials are now investigating whether Dr. Umar Mohammad, a Pulwama-based doctor linked to two recently arrested terror suspects, Dr. Mujammil Shakeel and Dr. Adil Rather, was driving the car when it exploded. Sources claim the detonation may have been triggered in panic after the arrests of his associates earlier in the day.

Police are also examining the car’s transaction history and suspect it may have changed hands several times through fraudulent deals.