Night Inside Car At Dhaba, Then Spotted On 50 CCTVs: How Delhi Bomber Moved

The Delhi Police and central investigating agencies have pieced together the final 48 hours of Dr Umar Nabi's movements before the deadly explosion outside Delhi's Red Fort on Monday evening -- an attack that killed 13 people and injured more than two dozen others.

Drawing on over 50 CCTV recordings, toll gate logs, and mobile data, investigators have reconstructed Umar's journey across Haryana and Delhi.

A Night On The Highway

According to sources, Umar, a 35-year-old doctor formerly associated with Al Falah University in Faridabad, was first seen leaving Faridabad early Monday morning. CCTV footage shows him driving a white Hyundai i20, purchased only two weeks earlier from a used-car dealer in the city.

Sources said Umar had been under stress since the arrest of two of his colleagues -- Dr Mujammil Shakeel and Dr Adil Rather -- after authorities recovered nearly 2,900 kilograms of explosives from Faridabad. The seizure, investigators believe, forced Umar to act ahead of schedule.

According to sources cited by news agency PTI, his car was tracked on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, where he made at least two stops -- one at a roadside dhaba where he ate, and another at a mosque in Firozpur Jhirka, Mewat district, where he was seen offering prayers. Later, he parked his car near another eatery, reclining in the driver's seat and spending the night there. 

A Morning Return To Delhi

At 8:13 am on Monday, the white i20 crossed the Badarpur toll plaza in Delhi. From that moment, the car's movements form a zigzag trail across the city, captured by surveillance cameras.

He was first seen near Okhla, then at Connaught Place, before moving through East and Central Delhi. Later, cameras captured him entering Ashok Vihar in North West Delhi, where he stopped at a small roadside restaurant around midday. "He appeared calm, ordered food, and stayed for a while before continuing his journey," news agency PTI reported citing a source. 

Around 1:00 pm, Umar's car was seen heading back towards central Delhi. He made a brief halt at a mosque near Asaf Ali Road, close to Ramlila Maidan. There, he stayed in the parking area for nearly three hours, apparently resting and checking his mobile phone intermittently. Police are now investigating his call and message logs from that period, suspecting possible instructions were received before he began his final approach toward the Red Fort area.

The Final Hours

At 3:19 pm, Umar's car entered the Sunehri Masjid parking lot adjacent to the Red Fort complex. For nearly three hours, the vehicle remained stationary amid rows of other parked cars. Surveillance footage shows no signs of activity -- no one approaching or leaving the car.

At 6:22 pm, the vehicle pulled out of the parking area and moved towards the Red Fort Metro Station. Thirty minutes later, at 6:52 pm, the car exploded at a busy intersection, sending fire and debris across the road and injuring dozens of commuters and tourists. The blast, captured by a traffic camera, shows a slow-moving car engulfed in flames seconds before chaos erupted.

The explosion tore through rush-hour traffic, damaging several nearby vehicles and shattering the windows of adjacent shops. Forensic teams later confirmed that the Hyundai was packed with high-grade explosives mixed with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. Officials believe the blast was triggered prematurely by Umar himself.

DNA samples collected from the site have now conclusively matched those of Umar Nabi. His mother's DNA was used for verification, confirming he was inside the car at the time of detonation.