Investigators looking into the fatal car blast near the Red Fort report that the suspect created a hidden communication network through Threema — a Switzerland-based encrypted messaging platform that is prohibited in India.

This intricate chain of events, linking Srinagar, Faridabad, and Delhi, underscores a sophisticated terror plot that was ultimately disrupted by a coordinated investigative effort.

It was a busy evening as usual on Monday near the Red Fort metro station in India's capital Delhi when the sound of a loud explosion broke the cacophony. An explosion in a car killed at least eight people and injured more than 20. It was so powerful that several vehicles nearby almost melted, and people could hear the blast from kilometres away.

According to the Fire Department, they received a call regarding the incident at around 9:18 am. Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot, officials confirmed.

Rare explosions in Delhi and Islamabad are threatening India’s fragile ceasefire with Pakistan, whose relations with neighboring Afghanistan have also plummeted.

Several survivors of the powerful car bomb blast near Delhi’s Red Fort are reporting severe hearing impairments and pain in their ears, doctors treating them said on Thursday.

The blast-like sound near the Radisson Hotel in southwest Delhi's Mahipalpur area caused panic among residents in Delhi

Eight deceased have been identified. The Delhi fire brigade investigated a call about a bomb at Delhi airport and found it was a hoax. Major airports in India are on high alert after IndiGo and Air India received bomb threats on November 12.