The Indian government has confirmed that a deadly car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort area on Monday was a “terror incident” perpetrated by “anti-national forces”.
The federal cabinet of ministers, led by prime minister Narendra Modi, passed a resolution late Wednesday, finally confirming speculations that it was a terror attack, two days after an explosion ripped through one of the busiest streets outside the 17th-century Mughal fort.
At least 8 people have been confirmed dead, and many were injured after a slow-moving car exploded at a traffic signal. Its impact threw bodies of street vendors and passersby into the air and caused nearby vehicles to catch fire.
The attack near the Red Fort, a major tourist attraction from where the prime minister delivers their Independence Day address to the nation on 15 August each year, marked the deadliest terrorist attack in the capital in a decade. It was also the second such attack across India since April, after terrorists opened fire on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 people.
“The country has witnessed a heinous terror incident, perpetrated by anti-national forces, through a car explosion near the Red Fort on the evening of 10 November 2025. The explosion resulted in multiple fatalities, and caused injuries to several others,” a statement said.
"The cabinet directs that the investigation into the incident be pursued with the utmost urgency and professionalism so that the perpetrators, their collaborators, and their sponsors are identified and brought to justice without delay."
It also said the cabinet “unequivocally condemns this dastardly and cowardly act that has led to the loss of innocent lives”.
It came after Mr Modi visited LNJP hospital on Wednesday where the survivors of the blast were receiving treatment after returning from his visit to Bhutan.
“Those behind the conspiracy will be brought to justice!” Mr Modi said on X, sharing his pictures meeting the survivors at the hospital.
Authorities in the national capital had so far announced they were investigating the case under its stringent terror laws, a step that gives investigating authorities broader powers to arrest or detain people. But they have not publicly detailed their evidence.
The National Investigation Agency, India’s anti-terrorism squad, took over the investigations into the blast.
No direct arrests have been made in Delhi so far, but at least five people were detained for questioning following a series of raids overnight in Kashmir's southern Pulwama district, police officials said Wednesday.
Monday's blast came hours after police in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they had dismantled a suspected militant cell operating from the disputed region to the outskirts of New Delhi.
The police are yet to link the blast to a suspected terror cell, but Indian media have linked the case to the arrest of seven people, including two doctors, following the seizure of weapons and a large quantity of bomb-making material in Faridabad, a city in Haryana state, which is near New Delhi.
Police said they recovered 2,900kg of explosives materials as well as chemicals and guns in raids on Monday morning.
Investigative sources told Indian news outlets that they are investigating whether the driver of the car that exploded belonged to the same group and whether the blast was a response to the arrests and raids.
India, calling it a terrorist attack, raised fears of renewed tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan after Mr Modi declared that “any future act of terror will be treated as an act of war” by his government following the Pahalgam blast in May.
India routinely accuses Pakistan of supporting Islamist militants in Kashmir, where a bloody insurgency against Delhi’s rule is midway through its third decade. Islamabad denies the allegation.
The Pahalgam attack which claimed 26 lives, mostly of Hindu tourists, pushed the two countries to the brink of a third war after a drone and missile attack on the border four days. A US-led ceasefire later stopped the hostilities even as India denies America’s role in peace efforts.
India-Pakistan blame game ignites after deadly blasts expose raw tensions
Modi’s Hindu nationalist coalition projected to win key state election
‘Shook ground under my feet’: Witnesses recount aftermath of explosion near Red Fort
At least 12 killed in suicide bombing outside court in Pakistan’s capital
Delhi Red Fort blast: Police detain suspects after car explosion leaves 9 dead
Almost 10ft crocodile rescued from bullet train project site
