Explosives In Red Fort, Nowgam Point To Foreign Guidance, Say Intel Sources | Exclusive

Last Updated:November 15, 2025, 16:11 IST

Red Fort, Nowgam blasts: Using such chemicals makes it easy for radicalised students and vulnerable groups, as it enables them to keep operating under the radar, sources said

The Red Fort blast in the capital shocked many. (PTI File)

The choice of explosives in both the incidents – car explosion at Delhi’s Red Fort and the Jammu and Kashmir police station blast – hint towards foreign guidance, top intelligence sources told News18.

An accidental blast at a police station in Nowgam on the outskirts of Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar killed at least nine people and injured 32 others on Friday night. The blast occurred when the police and forensic team officials were extracting samples from a large cache of explosives seized in connection with the ‘white-collar’ terror module case from Haryana’s Faridabad recently.

On Monday evening, a high-intensity blast from a slow-moving car ripped through the Red Fort metro station area, killing at least 12 and leaving many injured.

“In the Red Fort case, the explosives were picked by suspect Umer from the Al Falah University with a lot of care. Forensic experts found that Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) was mixed with ammonium nitrate. This comes from direct guidance from the Pakistan-Afghanistan terror networks," said sources.

Multiple ISIS-linked groups have also used same mixture in the past.

Sources say the recoveries and quantities and unstable nature of the materials indicate the accused were almost ready for a major blast.

“The Kashmir police station blast only shows how volatile and dangerous their explosive stock was. TATP was used in Paris, Brussels, Manchester and considered to be powerful, unstable. Foreign handlers prefer these explosives because they bypass military supply chains. They feel small radicals can deliver better than trained terrorists," sources said.

Using such chemicals makes it easy for radicalised students and vulnerable groups, as it enables them to keep operating under the radar, sources said.

“TATP and ammonium nitrate type devices require very basic understanding of chemistry. This kind of mix allows inexperienced individuals to assemble crude IEDs under online or handler guidance. These days, conventional explosives like RDX, PETN or TNT are tracked at all places and police watch their sales but ammonium nitrate is easy to get," they said.

Manoj Gupta

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

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