NEW DELHI: One of the most intriguing leads in the Red Fort blast case is the chain of ownership of the Hyundai i20 car that exploded — and how that trail may hold clues to a larger terror conspiracy.Police records show the car was originally registered to a Gurgaon resident named Salman, who had sold it months ago. The current identification linked to the car, investigators say, bore the name Tariq, a resident of Pulwama — a detail that immediately caught the attention of intelligence agencies.Sources said officers are now tracing all intermediate buyers and brokers who may have handled the vehicle during resale. “We suspect the multiple transfers were deliberate — to confuse the investigative trail and obscure the final handlers,” said an official from Delhi Police’s Crime Branch.
The car’s movement pattern further complicates the picture. CCTV footage shows it entering and leaving the Red Fort parking area minutes before the blast. Investigators believe this could either indicate reconnaissance or uncertainty in executing the plan.Meanwhile, forensic teams are examining chassis numbers and insurance data to verify if the vehicle’s documentation was forged or cloned — a tactic often used by terror modules to transport explosives.The discovery of a Pulwama-linked name has also prompted the NIA to check cross-connections with the Faridabad explosives seizure earlier the same day, where 360 kg of material was recovered. Investigators are probing whether the same network supplied the Red Fort car’s contents.While no arrests have been made yet, officials say the chain of ownership and registration irregularities could prove crucial in linking the blast to a larger terror plan. “The deliberate complexity in ownership appears intended to buy time and confuse trail reconstruction,” said an intelligence source. “This car’s paper trail may reveal far more than its wreckage.”
