New Delhi: Investigators have pieced together the complete route of the Red Fort blast that happened on November 10 and its suspect, Dr. Umar Mohammad, revealing a deliberate and well-planned journey across the national capital. CCTV footage has captured him at nearly 50 locations, including a mosque visit near Ramlila Maidan shortly before the explosion that killed nine people and injured over twenty others.
Dr. Umar, who was working as a faculty member at Al Falah University in Faridabad, bought a Hyundai i20 on October 29 and took it for a pollution check the same day. He then parked the vehicle for almost two weeks. Investigators say his movements became suspicious after the arrest of two doctors in Faridabad in connection with large seizures of explosive material; once he learned about those arrests he left Faridabad and travelled toward Delhi.
Investigators found that Dr Umar began his journey from Faridabad and travelled through Mewat and Firozpur Jhirka in Haryana before taking the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, where he halted overnight at a roadside dhaba. Freshly examined CCTV footage shows him reaching the Badarpur toll-plaza at 8:02 am on the day of the blast, wearing a mask while driving his Hyundai i20. A large bag is visible on the backseat of the car.
At the toll, he paid the collector and looked repeatedly toward the CCTV cameras, an action investigators believe indicates he was conscious of being monitored. After entering Delhi, he was tracked driving through East Delhi and then Ring Road in Central Delhi before reaching Ashok Vihar in the North district for a meal, eventually continuing toward the Central district as part of his final route.
A key addition to the timeline is that investigators have now captured CCTV footage of Dr Umar entering and leaving the Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque near Ramlila Maidan (opposite Turkman Gate) on the afternoon of November 10. He arrived at the mosque at about 2:30 pm and stayed for over ten minutes before leaving. CCTV also records him walking near Asaf Ali Road after leaving the mosque before he continued toward central Old Delhi.
This mosque visit has become a crucial link in the investigation, as it may have been a brief pause to gather his thoughts, offer prayers, or even receive final instructions.
After leaving the mosque, Dr. Umar was recorded driving through Connaught Place and Mayur Vihar before parking his Hyundai i20 near Sunehri Masjid in Chandni Chowk at about 3:19 pm. The car remained parked for several hours; around 6:52 pm the vehicle exploded near the Red Fort Metro station area, causing multiple casualties and heavy damage. Official counts reported by major outlets have varied in early reports; authorities later updated casualty figures as investigations continued.
The sequence now established is as follows: Faridabad to Mewat, then Firozpur Jhirka, an overnight halt on the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, entry into Delhi through the Badarpur toll, a visit to the Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque near Ramlila Maidan, and finally parking near Sunehri Masjid in Chandni Chowk where the explosion occurred. Investigators have been able to place Dr Umar at nearly 50 CCTV points across the city while also identifying unexplained gaps in his movements that they continue to probe.
In parallel probes, law enforcement recovered very large quantities of suspected explosive material from locations in and around Faridabad, amounting to approximately 2,500–2,900 kilograms of suspected ammonium nitrate and other materials. Police arrested or detained multiple doctors linked to those discoveries in Faridabad, and authorities say those seizures and the Faridabad arrests form an active line of inquiry in the Red Fort explosion case. Security agencies described the developing case as involving a network of radicalised individuals, some of whom are professionals.
(Rh/ARC/MSM)