Delhi Red Fort blast: A year since the deadly terror attack that shook the nation
One year after the deadly Red Fort blast, Delhi remembers the November 10, 2025 attack that killed 11 and injured 29. The NIA probe has since uncovered an alleged terror network; the probe continues.
)
One year since Red Fort blast
Today, November 10, marks a year since the deadly terrorist attack near Delhi’s Red Fort that shook the nation. In 2025, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle on a busy road in the evening. The incident resulted in several deaths as panic spread across the city. While the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation into the incident has so far uncovered a terror network, questions remain about the original target and other details.
What happened on November 10, 2025?
On November 10, 2025, a massive explosion ripped through a car, a Hyundai i20, on a busy street near Gate no 1 of the Red Fort Metro station in Delhi. The NIA has identified Umer Un Nabi as the man who was driving the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED). The attack happened around 6:50 pm, when the street was packed with traffic. In the blast, 11 people lost their lives, while 29 others were injured.
Was the original target not Red Fort?
The investigation has revealed that the Red Fort may not have been the original target for the blast. According to the NIA, Nabi changed his plan at the last minute. The agency said that the bomber initially targeted Lal Mandir, a Jain temple, but changed his plan due to the traffic and presence of police in the area.
Nabi walked out of the Sunhari Masjid parking lot around 6:37 pm and drove his i20 car, which had been converted into a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), near Lal Mandir. He then tried to park the vehicle there but made a U-turn and reached near the Red Fort. The blast happened minutes later at 6:50 pm.
What we know about the bomber
According to the NIA chargesheet, Nabi has been named the “mastermind” behind the attack. The agency has alleged that Nabi, also known as Pinda and Rahul Bhat, was “operational in-charge” of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) terror module, which had been revived by him in recent years to carry out terror attacks across India. The investigators have described the AGuH as a revived manifestation of Al-Qaida in the Indian Sub-continent.
Nabi had been building a terror network, being involved in recruiting, arranging meetings, and facilitating terror training. Before the blast, he visited the Red Fort 12 times in two years. NIA believes his visits were part of a reconnaissance session for planning terror activities. He was killed in the explosion.
Al-Falah University connection
Nabi, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, worked as an assistant professor in the general medicine department at Al-Falah University in Faridabad. The university came under scrutiny after the investigation traced links between its medical staff and the alleged terror module. The probe uncovered the role of Nabi, along with two other doctors, Dr Muzammil Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Saeed, who were arrested by the agency. The case brought Al-Falah University into the spotlight as investigators looked into how the network was allegedly built and operated. NIA has named 13 accused in its chargesheet as the investigation continues.
)
)
)
)