Hyundai i20 In Delhi Blast Was Sold To A Man From Kashmir's Pulwama

One of the owners of the Hyundai i20 that exploded near Delhi's Red Fort Monday evening – killing nine people and injuring 20 others in a shocking high-intensity blast – is a man from Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, sources told NDTV hours after the explosion.

Minutes earlier police in Haryana's Gurugram confirmed the arrest of a Mohd Salman, the original owner of the i20 bearing the number plate HR26 CE 7674. However, Salman told the police he had sold the car – to a man called Tariq, who hails from J&K's Pulwama.

It is unclear at this point if Tariq then re-sold the car to a third party.

What has been confirmed, though, is the car slowed as it approached a traffic signal near Gate 1 of the Lal Qila metro station at 6.52 pm. It exploded within seconds, and no more than a minute, later.

Sources said the explosion originated from the rear of the vehicle.

The force of the blast set nearly two dozen vehicles around, including an e-rickshaw, on fire and the resulting blaze burned for nearly 40 minutes before firefighters managed to get it under control.

Disturbing visuals showed bodies on the ground, severed body parts, and mangled cars. 

Home Minister Amit Shah has been briefed on the blast and the investigation and has, in turn, briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shah has also visited the injured in hospital.

The blast came hours after Jammu and Kashmir Police recovered nearly 3,000kg of explosives from two residential buildings in Faridabad in Haryana.

The materials – which included 350kg of ammonium nitrate, a commonly-used fertiliser that can be turned into a deadly bomb - were seized based on intel from arrested J&K-based doctor, Adil Rather.

Pulwama was the site of one of the worst terrorist attacks on India. On February 14, 2019, a military convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was attacked. A suicide bomber in a Maruti Eeco van launched the attack in which the terrorist - identified as Adil Ahmad Dar - and 40 soldiers were killed.

Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed the attack, to which India responded with precision military strikes that neutralised a training camp and killed between 300 and 350 terrorists.