The white Hyundai i20 car, used in the massive explosion near the Red Fort in Delhi on Monday evening, was parked inside the Al-Falah Medical College campus in Haryana's Faridabad for nearly 12 days before being driven to Delhi. The suspected suicide bomber, Dr Umar Nabi drove the car out of the college campus on the morning of the attack, November 10, allegedly out of panic.
A powerful explosion in Old Delhi area occurred around 6:52 pm on Monday when a slow-moving Hyundai i20 car exploded at a traffic stop near the Red Fort Metro Station gate number 1. The blast took nine lives and left nearly two dozen people injured.
Tracking Entry Into Delhi
Dr Umar Nabi purchased the car on 29 October from Sonu, a car dealer from Faridabad and took the car out for a Pollution Under Control certificate the same day.
CCTV video shows the car with the number plate HR 26CE7674 parked next to the Pollution Under Control (PUC) booth close to Royal Car Zone, Sonu's office.
From there, Nabi allegedly took the car to the Al-Falah Medical College and parked it next to Dr Muzammil Shakeel's Swift Dzire, who was arrested on Monday in connection with a massive haul of explosives. Dr Shakeel's car was registered in the name of Dr Shaheen Saeed, from whose car assault rifles and ammunition were recovered.
The car was reportedly parked there from 29 October to 10 November, until Nabi allegedly panicked following the arrest of his close aides - Dr Muzammil Shakeel and Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather.
The vehicle was then spotted in Connaught Place and Mayur Vihar before being parked in the Sunehri Masjid parking lot in Chandni Chowk.
CCTV video shows the car entering the parking lot at 3:19 pm, with the suspected suicide bomber's hand on the window. The vehicle did not leave the parking lot till 6:30 pm. Nabi, who was allegedly behind the wheels, did not step out of the car even for a second.
Who Are Dr Muzammil Shakeel, Dr Shaheen Saeed
Dr Muzammil Shakeel, a close aide of Dr Umar Nabi, was arrested along with Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather on Monday morning in a joint operation by the Jammu and Kashmir police and Haryana police to bust a "white-collar" terror module. The police also seized 2,900 kg of explosives and weapons such as assault rifles and pistols. This, according to sources, triggered Dr Umar Nabi to carry out the blast.
Dr Shaheen Saeed, a Lucknow-based woman doctor, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the massive explosives haul in Faridabad. Saeed had been working below the radar to set up the women's wing of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in India, Delhi Police sources said.
Update On Delhi Blast
The raids on the terror suspects across the country for the most part of the day on Monday, and the recovery of 2,900 kg of chemicals used in bomb-making may have triggered a panic situation for the suspects and compelled them to relocate, top intelligence sources told NDTV on Tuesday.
In an attempt to relocate or dispose of the explosive, the device accidentally detonated, sources said.
Investigators confirmed that it was not a suicide mission, but an accidental explosion.
The suspect appeared to have assembled the improvised explosive device (IED) improperly, the intelligence sources told NDTV after their initial assessment. Due to this, the IED had a limited impact, they said.
According to the investigating agencies, the handler of this module was operating from abroad.
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