Circled Connaught Place, waited near Chandni Chowk: How Hyundai i20 made its 7-hour journey from Faridabad before Red Fort blast | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: The i20 car that exploded at 6.52pm on Monday near Red Fort was spotted moving along the inner circle of Connaught Place at around 2.30pm, sources in probe agencies said, citing CCTV footage. The driver, Mohammed Umar, seemed to have decided to wait till evening to strike so that the area he targeted was crowded and maximum people could be harmed, the sources said.He first headed for Gauri Shankar temple in Chandni Chowk and then parked the car at the lot of Sunehri Masjid, where he lay in wait for over three hours. A detailed reconstruction of the events leading to the blast reveals a chilling sequence of the car’s journey from Faridabad to the heart of Delhi.
The i20 was first spotted outside a hospital in Faridabad around 7.30 am on Monday. By 8.04 am, it crossed into Delhi through Badarpur toll plaza. Umar was seen wearing a mask when he was captured on a CCTV at a petrol pump near Okhla Industrial Area 16 minutes later. The car then appeared to move through several parts of Delhi, evading detection for nearly seven hours till it reached the Sunehri Masjid parking lot at around 3.15 pm.According to CCTV footage examined by the investigators, the car remained stationary in the parking area from 3.19 pm to 6.25 p.m. Sources familiar with the probe said Umar stayed inside the car the entire time, not stepping out even once, till he drove the car out at 6.48 pm.
In the final 25 minutes before the explosion, the car was seen moving towards the bustling Chandni Chowk area. It took a U-turn near Red Fort, a heavily guarded tourist and heritage zone, before stopping near Gate No. 1 of Red Fort metro station on Subhash Marg. Moments later, at 6.52 pm, a powerful blast ripped through the vehicle, killing nine people and injuring at least 30 others.
The investigators are scanning over 1,000 cameras that cover the entire route of the car to ascertain if someone else had boarded or left the car in between or whether Umar was the lone occupant.
Interestingly, a CCTV footage captured a few days ago shows the i20 bearing a Haryana number plate parked near a Faridabad petrol pump, seemingly for a pollution check. Three people were visible inside, the investigators said.
