FARIDABAD/NEW DELHI: A red Ford EcoSport car owned by Dr Umar Un Nabi, who is suspected of being the driver of the Hyundai i20 that exploded near the Red Fort on Monday, has been found in Faridabad, police said on Wednesday.
The red EcoSport, registered at the Rajouri Garden RTO in Delhi, was found parked outside a farmhouse belonging to an acquaintance of the prime suspect near Khandawali village on the outskirts of Faridabad.
“In connection with the Delhi blast case, a red Ford EcoSport bearing registration number DL10 CK 0458 was found parked near Khandawali village at a house owned by an acquaintance of Dr Umar. The vehicle has been seized and handed over to the investigating agency for forensic examination,” Yashpal Singh, spokesperson for Faridabad Police, said in a statement.
The Faridabad Police said the vehicle has been handed over to the investigating agency.
The acquaintance owner is expected to be questioned by investigators to ascertain the circumstances under which the vehicle came to be parked in the farmhouse and who had access to it.
Officials said the vehicle was traced following specific leads shared by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, whose ongoing investigation into the busted terror module pointed to the vehicle’s presence in Faridabad.
Acting on this intelligence, a joint team conducted a raid near Khandawali village, leading to the car’s recovery from the house linked to Dr Nabi’s acquaintance.
Delhi Police had earlier sounded an alert to all checkpoints, police posts, and stations across the National Capital Region (NCR), warning that the vehicle might have been used for reconnaissance activities.
Umar ur Nabi became the focus of the investigation after investigations into the ownership of the i20 (HR26CE7674 ) that was seen on CCTV slowing down at a red light and exploding into a huge fireball on Monday evening. Police said he had escaped a series of raids in Faridabad that had led to the arrest of his associates, several of them doctors and members of an alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed module, and the seizure of nearly 3,000 kg of explosive material.
“It was a long trail before we reached him (Umar). The car was registered in the name of a man named Salman who revealed he sold it to a man named Devender. Devender was picked up and he said he sold it to a man named Taariq. While we were looking for Taariq, we found that the car was last with Umar. We were searching for him and then found that he was inside the i20 at the time of the attack, “ a Delhi Police Special Cell officer had told HT.