Investigators probing the Red Fort blast have identified a resident from Pulwama, Kashmir, as the person who purchased the Hyundai i20 vehicle used in the explosion just weeks before the incident. The 34-year-old man bought the car on October 29, according to official sources familiar with the investigation.
Vehicle Ownership Trail
Hours after the explosion rocked the capital, Delhi Police questioned a Gurgaon resident whose name appeared on the vehicle's registration documents. The man informed investigators that he had sold the car to another party, prompting authorities to collaborate with the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to trace the complete ownership history.
Police discovered that the vehicle changed hands multiple times before eventually reaching the Kashmiri resident from Pulwama. The identity of the suspect has not been publicly disclosed as the investigation continues.
CCTV Evidence and Timeline
Critical CCTV footage obtained from the parking area adjacent to the Red Fort shows the suspect vehicle entering at 3:19 pm and exiting at 6:48 pm on Monday - a duration of more than three hours. The footage reveals heavy traffic conditions when the car departed from the parking lot.
Additional camera recordings captured the vehicle in several key locations across Delhi, including Darya Ganj, the Red Fort vicinity, Kashmere Gate, and near Sunehri Masjid. Parking lot CCTV shows an individual in the driver's seat collecting what appears to be a parking slip.
Multi-Agency Investigation Intensifies
Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha confirmed that the car had multiple occupants, though initial footage appears to show only one individual. Investigators are examining whether additional persons joined the driver later.
Multiple specialized teams from the Special Cell, Crime Branch, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have been deployed to reconstruct the vehicle's complete route before it reached the parking lot. Officers are meticulously analyzing footage from nearby roads and toll barriers to map the car's movement pattern.
The blast occurred just one day after Jammu and Kashmir police made a significant recovery of nearly 3,000 kg of explosives from two residential buildings in Faridabad, Haryana. Delhi Police are actively investigating potential connections between these two developments.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta described the blast near the historic Red Fort as "extremely distressing and alarming" as security remains heightened across the capital city.
