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A nationwide alert was issued on Monday after nine people were killed and more than 30 injured in a high-intensity car blast outside Delhi’s Red Fort Metro. According to top sources, the country has been put on high alert while the Centre has asked states to keep vigil and tighten security at sensitive installations. Follow Delhi Red Fort Blast LIVE Updates Here The blast, which is being probed by multiple agencies including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and National Security Guard (NSG), was likely caused by an improvised explosive device (IED). Security was immediately tightened across Delhi-NCR, as the blast comes after a major terror plot linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was busted in Faridabad. Chandni Chowk market will be closed on Tuesday (November 11), said market association president Sanjay Bhargaw. ALSO READ | Delhi Blast Occurred At Car’s Rear End, Bodies Of Deceased Didn’t Turn Black: Top Points BIHAR TO VOTE AMID HEIGHTENED SECURITY Bihar, which will vote in the second phase of the assembly elections on Tuesday, was among the first where security was tightened. Bihar director general of police (DGP) Vinay Kumar said the state is already on high alert in view of the polls. Vinay Kumar said all district superintendents of police (SP) have been asked to remain alert and monitor security. He appealed to people to cast their vote without fear. RED ALERT IN NEIGHBOURING UTTAR PRADESH A red alert was issued in Uttar Pradesh. State ADG, law and order, Amitabh Yash said the DGP has issued instructions to all senior officials to increase security at sensitive religious sites, districts, and border areas. Amitabh Yash said all security agencies are on alert along with police in all districts. An order was issued from Lucknow to increase patrols and checks in sensitive areas, he said. A press note issued said in wake of the blast in Delhi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed DGP Rajeev Krishna to put the entire state on high alert and ensure intensive checking and strengthened security arrangements. Following instructions were issued by the DGP: All senior police officers must remain present in the field and personally visit, inspect, and patrol sensitive and crowded areas, markets, public gatherings, and religious places. Security arrangements at important installations, religious sites, crowded areas, and other sensitive points should be reviewed immediately, and the security level should be upgraded as per the threat assessment. Strict checking of vehicles should be carried out, and heightened vigilance should be maintained at metro stations, bus stands, railway stations, malls, cinema halls, and other public transport hubs/crowded centres while ensuring that the public is not inconvenienced. ATS, QRTs (quick response teams), bomb disposal squads, and dog squads should be kept in readiness mode, and foot patrolling and area domination should be intensified. CCTV feeds must be monitored in real time, and the local intelligence network and community informant system should be activated to ensure immediate reporting of suspicious persons or activities. Thorough checking should be conducted for unattended objects and suspicious persons in crowded places. UP-112 PRV (police response vehicles) should maintain continuous patrolling in sensitive areas. Social media monitoring should be done continuously; every input must be taken seriously, and legal action should be initiated against those spreading rumors. HARYANA ON HIGH ALERT Haryana is on high alert in wake of the blast in Delhi. People have been requested to remain calm and report suspicious activity, persons, or objects to ‘112’. The police are on alert and carrying out vehicle checks at interstate borders. Public transport, parking areas, and hotels and dharamshalas are also being checked while special vigilance is being maintained in NCR districts. JAMMU AND KASHMIR Jammu police is on high alert after a vehicle was reported stolen from Gandhi Nagar locality soon after the Delhi blast. A massive operation has been launched to trace the stolen car. According to top sources, Jammu and Kashmir police have joined the investigation into the car blast. Kashmir zone police are in constant touch with agencies in Delhi but there can be no further comment from their side, they said. There is no immediate connection with J&K, the investigation is ongoing, they added. RAJASTHAN, PUNJAB The border states of Rajasthan and Punjab were put on high alert. Security was increased at Jaipur railway station and the airport while police are checking hotels and dharamshalas. A red alert has been sounded in Punjab. “In wake of the blast in New Delhi, a Red Alert has been sounded across all districts in the state of Punjab,” said a Punjab police department spokesperson. Commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police (SSP) have been asked to remain alert, said the spokesperson. Police force has been deployed at sensitive and vulnerable spots. Checking of vehicles and suspicious people have been intensified, added the spokesperson. Telangana police increased patrolling in Hyderabad and other cities in the state as a precautionary measure, officials said. Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar rushed to Delhi. An alert has been sounded for Hyderabad and patrolling has been increased in crowded areas and other cities including Warangal and Karimnagar, a senior police official told PTI. Police in Hyderabad are already on alert in view of the by-election to Jubilee Hills assembly constituency on November 11, he said. “Now (following the blast in Delhi) we have increased patrolling in Warangal, Karimnagar and other cities and towns as a precautionary measure,” the official said. Police personnel were carrying out checks at railway stations, bus stations and also took up vehicle checks at different locations in the city and other places, he said. Telangana Health C Damodar Rajanarasimha expressed grief over the loss of lives in the blast and wished the speedy recovery of the injured persons. He said the blast in the national capital was unfortunate and a cause for concern. MAHARASHTRA Mumbai was put on precautionary alert even as CM Devendra Fadnavis reviewed the overall security situation. “After the recovery of 360 kg of possible ammonium nitrate (from Haryana’s Faridabad), Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a meeting with all senior police officials at Varsha this afternoon and reviewed the overall security situation. Now, after the incident in Delhi, he has once again instructed the police to remain vigilant. All agencies have been directed to remain alert,” as per Maharashtra Home Department sources. OTHER METROS Kolkata was put on high alert following the blast in Delhi. Kolkata police commissioner Manoj Verma said police have tightened security and increased vigil across all police stations. Police sources said Lalbazar, the headquarters of Kolkata Police, directed all police stations within its jurisdiction to remain on heightened alert, particularly those near metro stations. “Instructions have also been issued to intensify naka checking and maintain strict surveillance on all entry and exit routes to the city,” Manoj Verma said. Another officer with West Bengal Police said similar alerts have been sent to all district superintendents of police and local police stations to step up security and remain vigilant. “We have tightened security in and around Eden Gardens and the hotel where the international cricketers are staying for the India-South Africa Test scheduled later this week,” the officer said. All police units in Gujarat have been asked to remain alert and increase patrolling as a precautionary measure, officials said. As a precautionary measure, all police units have been asked to remain alert in view of the Delhi blast incident, Gujarat DGP Vikas Sahay told PTI. “Every police unit has been asked to be vigilant and increase patrolling in their respective regions” he said. Following the DGP’s directive, police in all the major cities and districts in Gujarat have swung into action, officials said. Security has been beefed up at vital installations like railway stations, and police teams have started conducting foot patrolling, Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said. “There is no need to panic. I appeal to people to inform police if they spot any suspicious person in their area. Our police teams are on the ground at present. They have started checking vehicles on roads, especially those entering or leaving the airport. We are taking all possible precautionary steps,” Gehlot said. Odisha police sounded high alert at all major religious and strategic installations, including the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, a senior official said. “All field units are on high alert. Jagannath Temple, all important religious places, vital installations are under security cover. Police patrolling has been enhanced,” the officer told PTI. Special security arrangements have also been made at the beach, railway station, bus stands, and other crowded areas in the pilgrim town. Security checks have also been intensified at entry and exit points in Puri. In addition, major installations, including the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Balasore district and other defence sites across the state, are under tight security. AMIT SHAH DIRECTS MULTI-AGENCY PROBE After the deadly blast near the Red Fort Metro, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the Delhi police commissioner and the director of the Intelligence Bureau, and ordered a coordinated investigation by multiple agencies. Soon after the incident, Shah had detailed conversations with IB chief Tapan Deka and Delhi police commissioner Satish Golcha to review the situation. He also directed that the NIA, NSG, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), and Delhi Police to work together on the investigation. Officials said all agencies have been told to thoroughly investigate the cause and nature of the explosion and submit a detailed report as soon as possible. Security has been increased around the blast site, and forensic teams are collecting evidence. Meanwhile, an NIA team has arrived at the scene to help the Delhi Police. “Today, around 6.52 pm, a slow-moving vehicle stopped at the red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle and, due to the explosion, nearby vehicles were also damaged. All agencies, FSL, NIA, are here… Some people have died, and some have been injured in the incident. The situation is being monitored. The home minister has also called us, and information is being shared with him from time to time,” Satish Golcha said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Shah so as to take stock of the situation. WATCH | ‘Felt As If We’re Going To Die’: Delhi Man Recalls Red Fort Metro Car Blast Horror Delhi has witnessed a terror attack with casualties after 14 years since the high court blast in 2011, whereas the last such attack on the Red Fort took place in 2000. The 2011 blast claimed 15 lives and left 79 injured. In the 2000 terror attack on Red Fort, which was allegedly carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, two soldiers and one civilian were killed.
