The trail of the white Hyundai i20 that exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday evening is turning into a complex web spanning three states and four owners.
A high-intensity explosion ripped through a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station, killing at least nine people and gutting several vehicles. The investigators said that the vehicle had changed hands multiple times — from Okhla to Ambala and finally to Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. Investigators are now tracing each link in the chain to determine how the car ended up in the capital, where it was used in the deadly blast that killed at least nine people and injured several others. Hours after the blast, the Delhi Police detained the car’s registered owner Mohd. Salman, according to PTI. During the probe, Salman told the investigators that he had sold the car to a person named Devendra in Okhla around one-and-a-half years ago.
Later, the vehicle was sold to someone in Ambala and it was again sold to a man named Tariq in Pulwama, and police are tracing the people, reported news agency PTI, citing an officer.
According to police, the explosion occurred in a "slow-moving" Hyundai i20 at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station in which three people were sitting. "The blast occurred in a moving Hyundai i20 car in which three people were sitting. We have not found any pellet or puncture in the body of the injured, which is unusual in a blast. We are investigating all angles," said a senior police officer. According to a fire department official, six cars, two e-rickshaws and one autorickshaw were gutted in the fire.
"There were passengers inside the vehicle. Other vehicles got affected. All agencies -- Delhi Police, Forensic Science Laboratory, National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Security Guard (NSG) -- have arrived and they are taking stock of the situation," said Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha.
A high alert has been sounded in Delhi, and security has been beefed up at city border points, with vehicle checking intensified.
