Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lok Nayak Hospital to meet the victims injured in the blast near the Red Fort. His visit came shortly after returning to Delhi from a two-day trip to Bhutan. Security was tightened around the hospital, where all the injured are being treated.
The explosion occurred on Monday evening around 6:50 pm in a white Hyundai i20 car near the Red Fort Metro Station. The blast, which took place during rush hour, destroyed several vehicles, killed nine people, and left around 20 others injured.
According to officials, the car’s owner, Dr. Umar Mohammad, allegedly set off the blast after learning that police had arrested two members of his network Dr. Mujammil Shakeel and Dr. Adil Rather — and seized nearly 3,000 kg of explosives from two houses in Faridabad, Haryana, earlier that day.
Lucknow-based doctor Dr. Shaheen Saeed, who was arrested in connection with the huge explosives recovery in Faridabad just hours before the Red Fort blast, was known to have liberal views and was not deeply religious, according to her former husband, Dr. Hayat Zafar.
He also revealed that before their separation in 2012, Shaheen wanted the family, including their two children, to move abroad — preferably to Australia or Europe.
Investigators claim that Shaheen, a resident of Daliganj, Lucknow, was heading the women’s recruitment wing of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in India. She was allegedly in charge of Jamaat-ul-Mominat, the group’s female unit.
