New Delhi,India – Indian police have detained multiple individuals for questioning in Kashmir following a car explosion in New Delhi on Monday that left at least one person dead. The detentions occurred overnight in raids across the Pulwama district of Indian-controlled Kashmir, police officials confirmed Wednesday.
The blast is being investigated for potential links to a suspected militant cell recently dismantled by authorities. Last week, police announced the arrest of seven people – including two doctors – and the seizure of weapons and bomb-making materials in Faridabad, a city in Haryana state near New Delhi.
The examination leading to the cell’s revelation began with a probe into anti-India posters that appeared in Srinagar, Kashmir, on October 19. The posters reportedly threatened attacks on Indian troops stationed in the region. CCTV footage aided in the initial arrest of three suspects,according to four police officers familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Over the subsequent three weeks, the investigation expanded to include the detention of two Kashmiri doctors working in Indian cities and two additional suspects from Kashmir. Indian news outlets report investigators are examining whether a Kashmiri doctor teaching at a medical college in Faridabad was driving the vehicle that exploded. Authorities have not confirmed this, but reports suggest the doctor may have intentionally detonated the blast to evade arrest or was transporting explosives that detonated accidentally.
Delhi police spokesman Sanjay Tyagi stated investigators are “probing all possible angles, including a terror attack, an accidental blast or any kind of failure in the car.”
The family of the doctor potentially linked to the explosion reported last contact on Friday, when he was informed police were seeking him. “He called us on Friday, and I told him to come home. He said he would come after three days,” said Shagufta Jan, the doctor’s sister-in-law, from Pulwama district.
Jan confirmed that police questioned the doctor’s mother and two brothers Monday night.
