From Al Falah University to Sunehri Masjid… Tracing the journey of i20 that exploded in Delhi

The Delhi Police have traced the route taken by the Hyundai i20 involved in a blast near the Red Fort. The explosion on Monday evening ripped through Netaji Subhash Marg near Gate No 1 of the Red Fort Metro Station at 6.52 pm on Monday (November 10), killing at least 12 people and injuring several others.

The police have now scanned footage from more than 100 CCTV cameras to map the vehicle’s movements. Delhi has remained on high alert since the blast, with security enhanced across the national capital.

Let’s take a closer look.

From Faridabad to Delhi: Tracing the car’s journey

The Hyundai i20, which was the source of the blast near Delhi’s iconic Red Fort, reportedly entered the city through Haryana’s Faridabad. For nearly 11 hours, from around 8 am to just before 7 pm on Monday, the vehicle was spotted at various locations in Delhi.

The car was first spotted near Al-Falah University in Faridabad’s Dhauj village around 2 am Sunday (November 9), sources told Indian Express.

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According to an NDTV report, the vehicle was kept on the campus of the varsity from October 29 to November 10. It was parked near a Swift Dzire car owned by Dr Muzammil Shakeel, who has been arrested in relation to the Faridabad terror module.

The Swift Dzire, however, was registered under Dr Shaheen Shahid’s name. Shahid, a resident of Lucknow, has also been arrested for her alleged links to terror activities.

Around 7.30 am on Monday, the white Hyundai i20 was seen outside Asian Hospital in Faridabad. The car entered Delhi from the Badarpur toll booth via the Faridabad road around 8.03 am.

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About 20 minutes later, the car was spotted at a petrol pump near Okhla Industrial Area.

The car was later seen in Ashram Chowk and Maharani Bagh. Around 8.30 am, it was at the DND flyover. “From DND flyover, the car entered East Delhi and was spotted outside the Crowne Plaza hotel around 8.45 am and near Chilla village. Around 9 am, the car was again at DND flyover and entered South-East Delhi,” a source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Later in the day, the car’s movement can be traced to Darya Ganj, Kashmere Gate and the historic Sunehri Masjid near Red Fort, covering central and old Delhi.

Around 2 pm, the vehicle was spotted outside Connaught Place police station and the Delite cinema hall in Central Delhi, reported Indian Express, citing an unnamed source.

The car entered the parking area adjacent to the Red Fort, near the Sunehri Masjid, at 3:19 pm. It remained there for nearly three hours.

“After scanning the CCTV footage, we found the car at the T-5 parking area adjacent to the Red Fort at 3.19 pm on Monday. But the driver didn’t come out of the car and there is no presence of him on the CCTV footage from the camera installed at the entrance gate of T-5 parking area as well as the vicinity. The car was spotted on CCTV camera again at 6.48 pm coming out of the parking area,” a senior police officer told Indian Express.

The man behind the wheel, suspected to be Dr Umar Nabi Bhat, then started driving towards central Delhi. The blast took place when the car was at the traffic signal near Gate No.1 of Red Fort Metro Station.

“CCTV footage shows there was heavy traffic when the car left the T-5 parking lot. CCTV footage from the parking lot purportedly shows a person in the driver’s seat collecting, what appears to be, a parking slip. After coming out, he drives towards the Upper Netaji Subhash Marg from where he takes a U-turn and comes on the lower Netaji Subhash Marg and moves towards the Red Fort. The car explodes midway,” a source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

As per NDTV sources, the target could have been anywhere in central Delhi, as the car was moving from the Red Fort toward the city centre. “Based on footage from different locations, around 13 individuals have come under suspicion and are being questioned,” they added.

The man behind the wheel

Dr Umar Nabi Bhat, a native of Koil village of Pulwama, is believed to be driving the i20 car that exploded near the Red Fort.

He was employed as an Assistant Professor at Al-Falah School of Medical Sciences & Research Centre in Faridabad.

As per NDTV sources, the suspect may have panicked and triggered the explosion on Monday after the arrest of two key members of the terror module — Dr Muzammil Shakeel and Dr Adeel Majeed Rather.

On the day of the Delhi blast, the police had recovered 2,900 kg of explosives, including ammonium nitrate, from Dr Muzammil’s rented accommodation in Faridabad.

As per initial assessment, the suspects did not assemble the improvised explosive device (IED) properly, which limited the impact of the blast, top intelligence sources told NDTV.

The Hyundai i20 involved in the Delhi explosion is reported to have changed hands several times. The first owner of the car, Salman, told the police that he sold the car to Devender via an online app.

“Devender later contacted a car dealer, identified as Sonu, who put the car on sale on OLX and it was sold from there. Faridabad Police has handed over Sonu to the Special Cell. Salman has been handed over by Gurgaon Police to Delhi Police Crime Branch,” an officer told Indian Express.

Police say the car reached Umar through a man named Tariq, who has been detained by the Jammu and Kashmir police in Pulwama.

The Delhi car blast is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The police have filed a case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Explosives Act.

With inputs from agencies