NEW DELHI: A day after a car blast near Red Fort in New Delhi claimed at least 12 lives and left several injured, the Union Government has directed security agencies to tackle terror modules active across the country.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held back-to-back two high level security review meetings with top brass of investigative and intelligence agencies, and took stock of the progress made in investigation. Shah was also briefed on searches being conducted by various state police forces.
The Home Minister reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to bring the culprits to justice at the earliest.
In a statement issued after concluding the review meetings, Shah said, “Chaired review meetings on the Delhi car blast with senior officials and instructed them to hunt down each and every culprit behind this incident. Everyone involved in this act will face the full wrath of our agencies.”
The meetings were held at his residence here, which was attended by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka, Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha and National Investigation Agency (NIA) Director General (DG) Sadanand Vasant Date, as Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat joined virtually.
Sources said, a team of more than 500 police and intelligence personnel has been formed to investigate the blast.
Security has been beefed-up across Delhi-NCR, with NSG commandos deployed at key installations. High alerts have already been issued in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Mumbai and other major cities across India. Security around crowded places and religious sites has also been enhanced.
According to the sources, the officials briefed the Home Minister and apprised him that more than 1,000 CCTV footage clips are being scanned by investigative agencies, in addition to constant monitoring of social media activity and mobile phone’ dump data from several locations across Delhi.
The blast occurred on Monday evening when a Haryana-registered car exploded near Gate No.1 of the Red Fort Metro Station, killing at least 12 people and injuring several others.
Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu spoke to the Home Minister over the phone from Angola on Tuesday and enquired about a blast that took place near the Red Fort here. The president has conveyed “heartfelt condolences” to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives in the incident, officials said.