At least eight people were killed and 24 injured near the Red Fort on Monday evening when a slow-moving Haryana-registered Hyundai i20 hatchback exploded at a traffic signal, scattering bodies and body parts, setting several vehicles aflame and covering the area in smoke.
Police would not immediately call the 7pm blast a terror attack — particularly in the absence of any claims of responsibility till late night — and said the nature of the high-intensity explosion was being investigated.
The blast occurred near Gate No. 1 of the Lal Quila Metro station — about 300 metres from the historic monument — at a time when the area was milling with people.
Eyewitnesses described bodies flying out of the CNG-run Hyundai (bearing the registration number HR26 CE 7674, according to some media reports), people running and screaming, and the area lit up by flames.
Earlier in the day, security agencies had claimed to have busted a terror module, involving the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind, in a 15-day operation spanning Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. No link has yet been established between the blast and the module.
The explosion comes on the eve of the second phase of the Bihar Assembly polls, covering 122 seats including the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region, raising speculation that it could polarise the voters along communal lines.
Asked whether it was a terror attack, a senior Delhi police officer said: “The nature of the blast has not yet been determined. The investigation is being conducted from every angle, and the terror angle is not ruled out.”
A senior police officer said the car that blew up had three occupants. “We haven’t found any pellet or puncture in the bodies of the injured, which is unusual in a bomb blast. We are investigating all angles,” he told PTI.
Home Minister of India Amit Shah visits the site of an explosion in the old quarters of Delhi, India, November 10, 2025 Reuters
The Delhi police have detained the owner of the car that blew up, a man identified as Md Salman, in Gurgaon, Haryana.
“He had sold it to a person in Okhla named Devendra. Later, the vehicle was again sold to someone in Ambala. The police are tracing these people,” a senior police officer said.
A video shared by the Chandni Chowk Traders’ Association showed a body lying on a vehicle, while another showed a body on the road.
“While I was standing and talking to someone, a body part... a hand, with the man’s shirt still on it, fell right behind me,” Amit Mudgal, 36, told PTI.
Zeeshan, an auto driver injured in the blast, told reporters: “The car in front of me was about two feet away. I don’t know whether there was a bomb in it or something else, but it exploded. It was a Swift Dzire.”
Irfan said: “Handcart pullers and taxi drivers were caught in the blast; some of them didn’t survive.”
Abdul Wahid, who was shopping in the nearby market, said people were running helter-skelter. “I saw people on the road… with injuries to their legs, hands and other parts of the body. I was horrified to see body parts flying out of the car. There was total chaos.”
A fire department official said six cars, two e-rickshaws and an auto-rickshaw had been burnt down.
The blast shattered the windows of vehicles parked several metres away, and the sound was heard at the ITO, a few kilometres from the site.
“The police usually recover clues while examining samples and evidence from a blast site within three to four hours,” a former Intelligence Bureau (IB) official told The Telegraph.
“In this instance, the investigators are maintaining a studied silence. It seems they are taking more time as nobody has yet claimed responsibility.”
High alert
Sources said all district police units, including the special cell and crime branch, had been put on alert and teams had been directed to conduct random checks of vehicles near the Delhi-Haryana border.
“Surveillance has been enhanced at all border points connecting Delhi with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Security has been ramped up in sensitive zones, including railway stations and Metro premises,” an officer said.
The CISF said it had issued a high alert for installations across the country, including airports, the Delhi Metro, heritage sites and government buildings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was briefed on the investigation and emergency response measures, expressed “condolences” to the bereaved.
Union home minister Amit Shah said the counter-terrorism force National Security Guard, National Investigation Agency and the Forensic Science Laboratory had joined the investigation.
“Orders have been given to examine all nearby CCTV cameras,” he said, adding that “all possibilities” were being taken into account.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi termed the blast “extremely heartbreaking and concerning”.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she was praying for the swift recovery of the injured.