Indian Authorities Investigating Car Explosion as Possible Terrorist Attack
A car exploded in New Delhi, India, on Monday evening, killing at least 13 people and severely injuring about a dozen more.
The explosion happened near the city’s Red Fort, also known as the Lal Qila, which is a 17th century monument and a symbol of the nation’s independence. Old Delhi, the area around the monument, is a popular tourist destination and often crowded with bazaars and street vendors.
Around 7 p.m. on 10 November, Delhi police said an occupied slow-moving vehicle stopped at a red light near the Red Fort before the vehicle exploded. The blast set fire to at least six other vehicles and three autorickshaws in the surrounding area.
Emergency response teams arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and extinguished the flames while surviving victims were taken to a hospital.
The Investigation
Authorities arrested the owner of the vehicle, a Hyundai i20, that exploded, Reuters reports. India's primary counter-terrorism law enforcement agency, the National Investigation Agency, is overseeing the investigation.
Delhi police traced the route of what they believe was the car involved in the explosion, according to Al Jazeera. Investigators used CCTV footage and toll plaza data to map out an 11-hour route that the car took from Faridabad, Haryana, to the Red Fort.
I wish to assure my fellow citizens that the country’s leading investigative agencies are conducting a swift and thorough inquiry into the incident. The findings of the investigation will soon be made public. I want to firmly assure the nation that those responsible for this…
— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) November 11, 2025
“Police believe the explosion is linked to a raid in Faridabad prior to the blast, in which a large cache of explosives was allegedly seized, as well as arrests in Indian-administered Kashmir of two Kashmiri doctors, including one from Faridabad,” Al Jazeera reported.
The Indian police said that the raid disbanded an interstate and transnational terror module. The authorities also confiscated weapons and bomb-making materials that they said are allegedly linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based organization that Indian authorities have accused of orchestrating attacks in India, according to The New York Times.
Delhi police working on the car explosion incident classified the case citing part of India's Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)—which is usually reserved for cases tied to terrorist activities, the Times and Al Jazeera reported.
Due to a 2019 amendment to the UAPA, “the state now commands the power to designate individuals as ‘terrorists,’ which was previously restricted to naming groups as ‘terrorist organizations,’” according to News 24, a news agency based in Uttar Pradesh. Under the law, anyone found guilty of committing a terrorist act that results in another person’s death can be sentenced to death or life in prison. Those guilty of terrorist acts that result in no fatalities face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, along with a potential fine.
Impact
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, vowed that anyone responsible for the explosion would be brought to justice, according to the BBC.
The last major incident involving an intentional explosion in the city happened in 2011, when a briefcase explosion outside of a courthouse killed about a dozen people, according The Guardian.
In response to Monday's blast, authorities put airports, government buildings, heritage sites, and railway stations on high alert, impacting the more than 30 million people that call the city home. The neighboring states of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have also been put on high alert.
The Red Fort will remain closed until at least 13 November while the investigation proceeds.
The U.S. embassy in New Delhi advised Americans to avoid the site surrounding the Red Fort and other crowded areas in the city.
