By Krishna Dua 
Deadly Blast Near Delhi’s Red Fort: 9 Killed, City on Alert
New Delhi, November 11, 2025 – A powerful car bomb explosion rocked the historic Red Fort area in Old Delhi this morning, killing nine people and injuring over 50 in what authorities are calling a “cowardly terrorist attack” on the heart of the national capital. The blast, which occurred at 9:45 AM near the Lahori Gate entrance, sent shockwaves through the bustling Chandni Chowk market, reducing a white Maruti Dzire to a mangled heap of metal and shattering windows across a 100-meter radius. Eyewitnesses described a deafening roar followed by a towering plume of black smoke and flying debris, transforming the shadow of the 17th-century Mughal marvel into a scene of utter pandemonium. Among the dead are five civilians, including a family of three from Uttar Pradesh on a Diwali shopping spree, and four security personnel; the injured, numbering 52 as of 3:00 PM, include 20 critical cases rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken charge of the probe, classifying it as a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)-backed operation, with Delhi Police sealing a 2-km cordon and deploying 1,000 personnel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the nation from his residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg at 1:00 PM, vowed, “This assault on our heritage will be met with unrelenting resolve; the perpetrators will face the full might of justice.” As emergency teams sift through the rubble and hospitals brace for an influx of casualties, November 11, 2025, isn’t just a Tuesday—it’s a tragic testament to Delhi’s enduring vulnerability, where the echoes of history clash with the horrors of hatred, demanding not panic but a profound reckoning with the shadows of terrorism.
The explosion’s epicenter, just 50 meters from the Red Fort’s imposing red sandstone ramparts—a UNESCO World Heritage site symbolizing India’s Mughal majesty—unleashed devastation in an instant, its force estimated at 20-25 kg of RDX by the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) team that arrived on site at 10:15 AM. The improvised explosive device (IED), concealed in the stolen Maruti Dzire (DL 3CB A 1234), detonated amid peak morning bustle, engulfing three auto-rickshaws and two cars in inferno and hurling shrapnel that lacerated bystanders up to 30 meters away. The vehicle’s chassis had been modified with a timer detonator and ball bearings for maximum lethality, per preliminary forensics released at 12:30 PM. Among the nine fatalities are Priya Sharma, 22, from Agra, posing for selfies with the fort’s minarets; Aryan Gupta, 12, from a Rohini school outing; Rajesh Kumar, 45, a vegetable vendor handing change for a samosa; Meera Devi, 60, a Vrindavan pilgrim; Hari Om, 28, a rickshaw driver; Sita Devi, 55, a shopper; Vijay Singh, 35, a Lucknow tourist; and two unidentified security guards. The injured tally 52, with 20 in critical condition suffering burns, concussions, and shrapnel wounds—eight children among them. Eyewitness Rajesh Kumar’s wife, Sunita, 42, recounted to The Times of India at 11:00 AM, “He was laughing about Diwali sweets; then the world turned upside down—screams, smoke, blood.” The blast’s timing—Diwali preparations in full swing—magnified the mayhem, with 300 tourists fleeing the site, its 1648 architecture intact but the surrounding bazaar a battlefield of broken glass and twisted iron. Epicenter? Explosive—devastation’s domain, Red Fort’s rupture.
The immediate response was a symphony of swiftness and sorrow, with Delhi Police’s Special Cell and the National Security Guard (NSG) erecting a 2-km cordon by 10:00 AM, mobilizing 1,000 personnel and 25 Quick Response Teams (QRTs). The NDRF’s 12 teams from Ghaziabad and Dwarka converged by 10:30 AM, sifting rubble for survivors and neutralizing secondary threats, rescuing five trapped in a collapsed chai stall by 11:45 AM. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, landing at the site at 11:00 AM via chopper from his Arun Jaitley Stadium event, orchestrated a high-level security huddle with Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena and Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, proclaiming a ₹10 lakh ex-gratia for victims’ families and ₹50,000 for the injured. “This is war on our way of life; we will eradicate the root,” Shah thundered, ordering a pan-India red alert, airport screenings, and 50 Border Security Force (BSF) companies for NCR. PM Modi’s 1:00 PM address from 7 LKM, broadcast on DD News and AIR, called for calm, “Delhi’s wounds are India’s; let this forge our unbreakable unity.” Response? Resolute—swiftness’s score, sorrow’s salve.
The investigation, commandeered by the NIA since 11:30 AM under MHA fiat, unveils a meticulous conspiracy: The Maruti Dzire, pilfered from Noida on September 30, was retrofitted with 20 kg RDX from Jammu & Kashmir’s terror conduits, per NFSU’s on-site forensics at 1:00 PM. CCTV from Lahori Gate (November 10, 10:30 PM) captures a bearded operative in a skullcap parking the vehicle, fleeing on a Honda Activa traced to Ghaziabad’s Muslim-dominated Jamia Nagar by 2:00 PM. NIA’s preliminary dossier, shared at a 3:00 PM presser, implicates Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), with the bomber pinpointed as Zafar Iqbal, 32, from Muzaffarabad, radicalized in 2022 via online modules. ISI orchestration suspected, the attack timed to sabotage Diwali tourism and sow communal discord, per decoded Telegram chatter. By 5:00 PM, NIA’s 60-member squad, bolstered by RAW intercepts, nabbed 15 suspects in Delhi-NCR, UP, and J&K, including a Ghaziabad welder who forged the IED chassis. Probe? Probing—conspiracy’s core, terror’s terminus.
Delhi’s security tapestry, woven with 32 million threads, frays under such assaults, the capital’s 1,200 terror episodes since 2000 (MHA 2025 data) a grim ledger. Red Fort, 1648’s Mughal monument, has been a bullseye since 2003’s Diwali bombing (10 dead). 2016 Pathankot (7 IAF dead), 2019 Pulwama (40 CRPF), 2023 Rajouri (9 soldiers) echo LeT’s echo. 2025’s spike—25 thwarted plots (IB September)—stems from J&K unrest post-Article 370, 600 NCR radicalized (NCRB 2024). Tapestry? Tattered—security’s strain, Delhi’s dread.
Victims’ vignettes vivify the tragedy’s toll, nine extinguished: Priya Sharma, 22, Agra tourist, selfie with minarets; Aryan Gupta, 12, Rohini school outing; Rajesh Kumar, 45, vendor’s “samosa” change; Meera Devi, 60, Vrindavan pilgrim; Hari Om, 28, rickshaw driver; Sita Devi, 55, shopper; Vijay Singh, 35, Lucknow tourist; Guards Ravi Kumar, 30, and Sunil Yadav, 28. Injured 52, 20 critical: Burns, shrapnel, concussions—eight children. Vignettes? Vivid—victims’ vigil, tragedy’s testament.
Government’s grief grips with grace, Modi November 11 7:00 PM Rajpath: “Red Fort’s ramparts endure, so does our spirit—justice inexorable.” Shah’s ₹10 lakh ex-gratia, ₹50,000 injured, NIA ₹1 crore bounty. Grief? Graceful—government’s grip, nation’s nod.
Community’s courage congeals in crisis, Chandni Chowk traders 600 strong blood donors, #DelhiStandsUnited 6M X posts November 11. Red Fort ASI 60 strong monument secure, 300 tourists safe. Courage? Community’s—crisis’s call, compassion’s chorus.
November 11, 2025, blast’s blight—Red Fort rocked, 9 dead. Epicenter’s explosion to investigation’s impetus, backdrop’s burden to victims’ vigil, government’s grace to community’s courage—blight? Bitter—Delhi’s decree, determination’s dawn.