- Government sources warned that terror acts on Indian soil will be treated as acts of war
- The Delhi blast near the Red Fort was linked to a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror module from Faridabad
- Sources said Operation Sindoor is still on after the Delhi blast
In a warning to perpetrators of the Delhi terror blast, government sources reiterated that any terror operation on Indian soil will be considered an act of war. The warning came after an initial probe linked the explosion near the historic Red Fort -- in which at least 8 (ISN'T IT 9?) people were killed -- with a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror module based in Haryana's Faridabad.
Underlining India's stand after the Pahalgham attack, highly placed sources said, "Operation Sindoor is still on."
Monday's blast was the first significant security incident since April 22, when 26 civilians were killed by terrorists at the tourist site in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, triggering a military confrontation with Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh vowed that those responsible for the Delhi car explosion would face justice. "The country's leading investigative agencies are conducting a swift and thorough inquiry into the incident -- findings of the investigation will soon be made public," Singh told a conference in New Delhi.
"I want to firmly assure the nation that those responsible for this tragedy will be brought to justice and will not be spared under any circumstances."
The Blast
Crime scene investigators scoured through the wreckage of a car on Tuesday, hours after the intense explosion near the landmark Red Fort in the crowded Old Delhi area.
Police sources said that Umar Mohammad, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, owned the i20 car that was behind the blast. Investigators believe Umar, a doctor by profession, panicked after investigators arrested two key members of the module – Dr Mujammil Shakeel and Dr Adil Rather – and seized 2,900 kg of suspected explosives in Faridabad over the past few days.
Umar was also a member of a radical doctors' group that coordinated on Telegram and had links to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terror group, sources said.
Hours before the blast in Delhi, the police in neighbouring Faridabad in Haryana said they had recovered 2,900 kg of explosives and inflammable material from two rented rooms of a Kashmiri doctor, Muzammil Shakeel.
Shakeel and Rathe were among eight people who were arrested for allegedly being part of a "white-collar terror" module involving the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and spanning Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
The 2,900 kg of explosive material recovered in Faridabad included ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and sulphur.
