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  • 4 months ago
A deadly car explosion near Delhi's Red Fort, which claimed 10 lives, is being linked to a multi-state terror conspiracy involving a network of doctors. The investigation is tracking the movements of the suspected suicide bomber, Dr. Mohammad Umar, who allegedly detonated the vehicle after a related terror module was busted in Faridabad, where nearly 2900 kg of explosives were seized. Key lines of inquiry focus on whether this was a planned strike or an act of panic, the full extent of the terror network, and potential security lapses by the Delhi Police. According to India Today's Munish Pandey, 'there is no denial that there was a security lapse by the Delhi police.'

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00:00Ten lives have been lost, several others injured and India's capital has been shaken to its core.
00:06The explosion took place just metres away from the Red Fort last evening at about 7pm, 6.52 to be exact.
00:13And it was the result, now it's emerged, of a massive multi-state conspiracy,
00:18mainly involving terrorists in the name of doctors, in the guise of doctors.
00:22And that's perhaps the most shocking bit that's emerged in the last 24 hours
00:26of how every single accused who's been named is a doctor.
00:31Preliminary investigation has unearthed that the blast is linked very much to the massive Faridabad terror bust
00:37in which over 2,000 kilos of explosive material was nabbed.
00:40So that tells you that the plan was to carry out a much, much larger terror attack.
00:45But I want to focus on one name that's emerged in the last 24 hours.
00:49Another doctor, yes, Mohammed Omar.
00:51He was the one allegedly behind the wheels of the I-20 that exploded at that red light
00:56right next to the Lalkila metro station.
00:59So it is suspected that this was a suicide bomber.
01:03But whether this was a panic attack or a planned attack is something
01:06that we are hoping to get details on in the coming days.
01:09But let's tell you what we know right now.
01:11And we've got a number of CCTV videos, statements of eyewitnesses
01:15with which we've pieced together the exact trail of terror.
01:19Let's start with 8.04am Monday.
01:21The I-20 car, driven by this Dr. Omar, because there's CCTV footage to corroborate that,
01:28enters Delhi from the Badrpur border.
01:30So from Faridabad into Delhi.
01:32By 8.20am, which is essentially in about 15 minutes,
01:36the car again is captured on CCTV.
01:39This time at a petrol pump in Okhla, which is on the outskirts of the national capital.
01:43So essentially by this time he's entered Delhi.
01:46And then the rest of the time, the cops are still piecing together what happened.
01:50But hours later, at 3.19pm, is when the next CCTV footage evidence comes to the fore.
01:57The same car drove into the Suneri Masjid parking lot.
02:01The Suneri Masjid is right next to the Red Fort.
02:04And it was at this spot that Omar remained parked.
02:07Stayed there for nearly three hours.
02:10Those entire three hours, what we're hearing is that Omar did nothing.
02:14There were questions about whether he stepped out.
02:15Did he meet with someone? Did he have any aides in that parking lot who were waiting for him?
02:20But sources tell us, no, he just sat in that car, didn't come out even once.
02:25At 6.48pm, the car rolled out of the lot.
02:30Moments later, after it took a turn around the Red Fort and came to the entrance,
02:34the front of the Red Fort, gate one.
02:36At the signal, the car stopped at the red light.
02:40Moments later, exploded.
02:42Clearly, the car had some explosive materials in the vehicle, which is what led to the explosion.
02:48The question is, did he want it to go off or was it something that happened while he was trying to escape?
02:53But there are many questions right now which need answering.
02:56And over the next one hour, we'll try and piece together all the information we have,
03:00particularly with our reporters on the ground who have been tracking the story right from the word go.
03:05The first question that everyone has been asking is, what was the target?
03:10Like I told you, the car went off, exploded in the middle of a road at a red light signal,
03:17right in front of the Red Fort.
03:18On the left side is a temple.
03:20And I want to bring in Shreya Chatterjee, who's been tracking all the latest updates.
03:23She's been speaking to her sources in the Delhi police as well.
03:27Shreya, any information that you've been able to pick up on whether there was a target planned on that very stretch
03:32that led to that explosion in the spot?
03:34Unlikely, Akshita, because one thing that all our sources are pointing it out,
03:43that this particular attack was an attack done under a panic-stricken condition.
03:48But we're still yet to get confirmation whether Chandni Chowk was probably one of the spots that was reckoned from before
03:55for an attack to be taken place.
03:57Because from the kind of cache recovered, 2,900 kgs of ammonium nitrate,
04:01clearly the module had a plan to do or carry out at least a series of attacks in the national capital,
04:07averted largely by the Jammu and Kashmir police whipping down and arresting three individuals on Sunday
04:12and then subsequently recovering those amount, Muhammad Umar or Umar Muhammad, he was absconding.
04:18And one thing is for sure, he was panicked because he was being searched by the Faridabad police
04:24and the Jammu and Kashmir police.
04:25And that's when the entire sequence you mentioned, he exited from Faridabad early morning,
04:30wee hours on Monday morning.
04:32He exits from Faridabad, takes the Badrpur route, reaches the national capital, tours the entire location,
04:38and then he is here seated at the Suneri parking for three hours.
04:43And then subsequently when he realizes that time's almost up,
04:46he comes over here at the red light and he detonates the car, killing nine individuals.
04:51So one thing's for sure, this was a panic-stricken attack.
04:54Whether Chandni Chowk was, I mean, initially planned part of the recce,
04:59yet to confirm because Delhi police and other multi-agencies are right now also,
05:02I mean, they're combing all CCTVs in the national capital to see that where else did three individuals recce
05:09and where were their initial plans to carry out the attack?
05:12So from the information...
05:13Those will probably confirm that whether Chandni Chowk was actually a part of the plan.
05:16So from the information you're giving us, Shreya,
05:19it does look like the investigation is still on.
05:22What was the target? We don't know.
05:24But another pertinent question to ask, based on what Shreya has also told us,
05:27is whether this was a planned attack or was the explosion carried out due to sheer panic?
05:33Was this man trying to run away after his aides were caught
05:35and then somehow that explosion happened?
05:38Let me bring in Munish Pandey on this.
05:40Munish, was this a panic attack or was it planned?
05:43What are authorities saying right now?
05:45What is the needle of suspicion really pointing towards?
05:47Because we know the investigation right now is still underway.
05:50But looking at surely the circumstances in the manner in which this blast happened,
05:55the manner in which this attack took place, what are they looking at?
06:04Well, Akshita, if you go by the sequence of events in this case,
06:08it is very clear that it might have been a panic attack.
06:12And in panic, he decided to do the blast at Lalkila, gate number one of metro station.
06:20Because if you go by the sequence of events in this case,
06:23you know, in the morning, there was a raid by the Jammu and Kashmir police in Faridabad.
06:30Most of the accomplices of Dr. Umar Mohamed,
06:33they were either detained or arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police.
06:37It was very clear that from that module, at that particular time,
06:42there was one particular person of interest who was absconding.
06:45That is Dr. Umar Mohamed.
06:48And Umar was very much aware that now he is on target of not only Jammu and Kashmir police,
06:54but also Haryana police and Delhi police.
06:57So he was very well aware.
06:58And that is why if you go through the movement of Dr. Umar Mohamed from Faridabad in the morning,
07:04he came to the national capital in the afternoon.
07:08He spent almost three hours in the parking lot.
07:11And around six o'clock, he decided to leave that parking lot.
07:14And then, you know, where I'm standing, he decided to do the blast.
07:19But, Achita, in most of the cases where ammonium nitrate has been used in an explosion,
07:25what we have witnessed in past cases is that in most of the cases,
07:29the terrorists decide to conduct such act in close premises so that there can be a maximum impact.
07:38In a running car, most of the impact was, you know, suffered by Dr. Umar Mohamed himself
07:46and also by the car and the surrounding people.
07:49But if the same blast could have been carried in close premises, it would have been huge.
07:55But for that, you need persons to recce those premises.
07:58Initially, there was suspicion that there were three people in that vehicle.
08:02All of that has been made very clear that there was just one person,
08:05which was this Dr. Umar himself.
08:07He was driving and he was the only one in the car.
08:10Munish, I'll request you to stay with me.
08:11But question number three that comes up is about the entire terror module.
08:15Remember that the Faridabad module has been busted.
08:17The mastermind behind that explosion has been identified.
08:21So does this mean that the threat of this entire white-collar terror network is finally over?
08:26Have they all been identified?
08:28Have all the missing pieces of the puzzle been found here?
08:31I want to bring in Sushant Mehra for the latest updates on that.
08:34Sushant has been tracking the multi-agency probe that's currently underway.
08:38Sushant, today we are seeing that there was a lot of news that there were raids here.
08:42There were many doctors who have arrested many of the other accused as well.
08:48So what do you think the whole network has been found here?
08:50What do you think the whole network has been found here?
08:55Do you think the whole network has been found here?
08:59Do you think the whole network has been found here?
09:03Do you think the whole network has been found here?
09:05Do you think the whole network has been found here?
09:07Do you think the whole network has been found here?
09:13Do you think the whole network has been found here?
09:17Hi, Mr. Amar.
09:47Thank you very much.
10:17Thank you very much.
10:47Thank you very much.
10:49Thank you very much.
10:51Thank you very much.
13:43There are two theories that are floating.
13:45One.
13:46That there could be accomplices of Dr. Rumbar Mohamed and he was waiting for some time.
13:53B. Probably he was waiting for the right time.
13:55But remember it was Monday.
13:57Chani Chok market usually does not have the same hustle and bustle.
14:00So when he realized that it wasn't the same that they were expecting or the kind of people that they were expecting.
14:07Probably he realized that his time is ticking because there's already a raid that is under its way.
14:13He led that detonation that led into that blast.
14:16But one thing is for sure that right now the Faridabad police is also along with the Delhi police and Jammu and Kashmir police
14:23is investigating into the chatter.
14:26The kind of calls that were if at all intercepted to have reached any of these people already arrested
14:31and Umar Mohammed, whether there were people cross-border trying to connect with them.
14:35All these things are right now being looked at because that will probably give the final key piece of information
14:40of the final and the full proof plan that actually was there and we only saw a miniature version of it.
14:46Okay, we will see of course what emerges as the investigation progresses.
14:51But there is a serious concern that this was a Jaish module essentially that we've witnessed playing out in the national capital
14:58planned to be much much bigger which was busted by officials.
15:02Thanks Munish, Sushant and Shreya for getting us all of those details.
15:06We've kind of given you a sense really about the details that has come to the fore on so many of those questions
15:12that we've been seeing during the rounds.
15:14And hopefully we'll have more clarity in the next 24 hours as the investigation progresses.
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