Image Source hindustantimes
By Staff Reporter | New Delhi, 12 November 2025
A Hyundai i20 packed with high-grade explosives became an instrument of terror on Monday evening, detonating near Gate No. 1 of the Red Fort Metro Station and claiming 12 lives in a fireball that lit up the twilight sky. The blast, now confirmed as the handiwork of a highly educated terror cell, has triggered one of the largest multi-state manhunts in recent years.
Investigators believe the bomber—tentatively identified as Dr. Umar Nabi, a 34-year-old physician from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district—died in the premature explosion.
CCTV footage shows the white sedan entering Delhi at 7:15 a.m. via the Badarpur border, idling for nearly three hours near Sunehri Masjid, then inching toward the Red Fort before the device triggered at 6:52 p.m.
“The blast was not meant to be this small,” a senior NIA officer told this paper on condition of anonymity. “Forensic teams found no crater and limited shrapnel dispersion—classic signs of an accidental detonation. The target may have been a crowded evening market or a government installation nearby.”
From Stethoscopes to Suicide Vests
The case took a chilling turn on Wednesday when Jammu & Kashmir Police detained Maulvi Ishtiyaq Ahmed, a 42-year-old Islamic scholar from Haryana’s Nuh district, on the campus of Al-Falah University in Faridabad. A raid on his staff quarters uncovered 2,600 kg of bomb-making chemicals—ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate, sulphur—along with 14 electronic timers and 200 metres of cortex fuse.
Sources say Ishtiyaq’s residence doubled as a logistics hub for a “white-collar module” whose members include at least four medical professionals, two PhD scholars, and an imam. The group allegedly raised funds through fake NGO receipts and university donation drives, routing money to handlers in Pakistan and the Gulf.
“These are not street radicals,” the officer added. “They are doctors treating patients by day and plotting carnage by night.”
Timeline of Terror
- 29 October: Hyundai i20 sold in Faridabad; three men seen loading heavy sacks.
- 9 November: NIA tips off Haryana Police; raids in Pulwama yield 400 kg explosives.
- 10 November, 6:52 p.m.: Red Fort blast.
- 11 November: NIA takes over; DNA sample of Dr. Nabi’s mother flown to Delhi.
- 12 November: Maulvi Ishtiyaq detained; two more doctors from Al-Falah University taken for questioning.
City Under Lockdown
Delhi Police have sealed 14 entry points, deployed drone surveillance, and installed vehicle scanners at every major crossing. Sniffer dogs patrol metro stations, and plain-clothes teams shadow university campuses in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking from Thimphu, vowed “relentless pursuit” of the network. “No degree, no profession, no mask of piety will shield those who spill innocent blood,” he said.
The Missing Cars
Intelligence inputs reveal the module purchased two additional vehicles in Delhi NCR over the past week—one silver Toyota Innova, one black Maruti Ertiga. Both remain untraced. “We are scanning toll plazas and parking lots within a 300-km radius,” an official said.
As forensic teams sift through charred metal and bone fragments under floodlights at the blast site, the capital holds its breath. The Red Fort—symbol of India’s resilience—now stands scarred, a grim reminder that the next threat may wear a doctor’s coat.
[Newsroom article is original. Facts are honestly sourced and rephrased from The Hindu, NDTV, India Today, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Indian Express, and others (Nov 10–12, 2025). No text copied.]
