NEW DELHI: Indian police are investigating a deadly car blast in New Delhi under a law used to fight “terrorism”, an officer said on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to bring to justice all those responsible.
The explosion near the historic Red Fort on Monday evening killed at least eight people and injured 20. It was the first such blast in the heavily guarded city of more than 30 million since 2011.
“Today, I have come to Bhutan with a very heavy heart,” Modi said in Thimphu, the capital of the neighbouring Himalayan nation, as he arrived on Tuesday for a scheduled visit.
“The horrific incident that happened in Delhi last evening has deeply disturbed everyone,” Modi told a public meeting.
“Our agencies will get to the very bottom of this conspiracy. The conspirators behind this will not be spared. All those responsible will be brought to justice.”
New Delhi’s deputy chief fire officer A.K. Malik told AFP shortly after the explosion that eight people had been killed. The Press Trust of India news agency reported on Tuesday that the death toll had risen to 12, although that figure has not been confirmed.
Home Minister Amit Shah told reporters late on Monday that security forces were “keeping all angles open”, adding that it was “very difficult to say what caused the incident” until forensic samples had been analysed.
The blast, if confirmed as an attack, would be the first significant security incident since April 22, when 26 mainly Hindu civilians were killed at the tourist site of Pahalgam in India-occupied Kashmir.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also vowed today that those responsible for a deadly car explosion will face justice. “The country’s leading investigative agencies are conducting a swift and thorough inquiry into the incident — findings of the investigation will soon be made public,” Singh told a conference in New Delhi. “I want to firmly assure the nation that those responsible for this tragedy will be brought to justice, and will not be spared under any circumstances.”
The defence minister said agencies were carrying out a swift, thorough investigation, with the findings to be made public soon.
Crime scene investigators scoured through the wreckage of a car early on Tuesday, hours after the intense explosion. Security was increased across New Delhi as both forensic and anti-terrorism agencies searched for evidence.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Raja Banthia said Delhi police had registered a case under the anti-terrorism law, as well as the Explosives Act and other criminal laws.The law, called the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, is India’s main anti-terrorism law. It is used to investigate and prosecute acts related to “terrorism” and activities that threaten the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
“Investigation is at a preliminary stage and any comment on it will be too premature,” Banthia told reporters.
Near the site of the blast in the city’s old quarters, a busy market and tourist area, most shops that shut soon after the explosion were yet to open in the early hours of Tuesday.
Forensic experts were seen scouring the site of the blast, which has been sealed since Monday night and enclosed in white cloth barriers.
Delhi Metro said the Red Fort station had been shut for security reasons. Police said a slow-moving car, which stopped at a traffic signal, exploded just before 7pm (6:30pm PKT).
Nearby vehicles were also badly damaged. The explosion left behind mangled bodies and the wreckage of several cars on a congested street near a metro station in the old quarter of Delhi.
There was no immediate information on the occupants of the car, who were presumed to have been killed. Police said they were tracing the owner of the car. Relatives of the victims gathered outside the nearby Lok Nayak hospital to identify the bodies of their loved ones.
“We at least know that my cousin is here, whether he is injured or not or the extent of his injury, we don’t know anything,” said a distressed relative who did not want to be named.
Before leaving for his state visit to Bhutan, Modi offered his “condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the blast in Delhi”.
“I understand the pain of the families. The whole nation stands with them,” he said.
The Red Fort is one of India’s most well-known landmarks. Prime ministers address the nation from its ramparts on Independence Day, and its striking features appear on India’s largest banknote.
‘People were burning’
Eyewitnesses described to AFP how the car exploded in traffic and how people caught up in the surge of flames were set on fire.
“I saw the car explode while it was moving,” said Dharmindra Dhaga, 27.
“People were on fire and we tried to save them … Cars and people were burning — people inside the cars were burning,” he said.
“I was telling the public to save them, rescue them, and get them out. The public was busy making videos and taking photos.”
The emergency ward at Delhi’s LNJP hospital was chaotic after the explosion as wounded people streamed in and doctors rushed to treat them.
A woman broke down outside the ward where her husband was being treated. “I can’t bear to see him like that,” she said as her brother tried to console her.
The last significant attack in the Indian capital was in September 2011, when a bomb hidden in a briefcase ripped through a crowd outside New Delhi’s High Court, killing at least 14 people.
