New Delhi: Doctor Umar un Nabi and his associate found the white i20 listed on OLX while allegedly planning to transport the explosives lodged at their friend Muzamil Shakeel’s rented accommodation in Haryana’s Faridabad.
The explosives had been lying there for some time, and the duo had to quickly figure out the logistics, as their handlers allegedly had told them to hurry.
After contacting the car dealer on the OLX platform, Nabi and his aide, suspected to be Aamir Rashid, went to the dealer’s office, Royal Car Zone, in Faridabad’s Sector 37. The duo from Jammu and Kashmir waited in the dealer’s office till the car’s documentation was completed.
“They gave us the required documents [for obtaining the car]. For now, we have given everything, including CCTV footage, to the police,” Amit Patel, who runs the Royal Car Zone, told ThePrint, adding, “After the documentation, we handed them [Nabi and Rashid] the car.”
Rashid even clicked a photo with the white i20, which later exploded at 6.50 pm on 10 November near the Red Fort metro station’s Gate No. 1. The blast killed at least 13 people and injured several others. The number plate can be seen in his viral picture—HR26CE7674.
The white car was from 13 to 14 years ago, according to Patel. In March this year, Salman, a Gurugram resident, sold the i20 to Devender from J&K Motors. Salman sold the car via Spinny, an agency that buys and sells used cars.
Sonu, an employee of Royal Car Zone, which has a tie-up with J&K Motors, had put up the car for sale on OLX. “We do this on a commission rate. Sonu bought the car from Devender of JK Motors and put it up for sale,” Patel told ThePrint.
Sonu, working with the Royal Car Zone, dealt with Nabi and his associate for the documentation after they arrived for the car. The i20, however, remained registered in Salman’s name. This is why the Haryana police had briefly questioned him on the day of the Red Fort blast.
Sonu has also been arrested by Delhi Police.
The i20 was sold to Nabi and Rashid for 1.5-two lakh. On the same day that the duo bought the car, they went to obtain the car’s pollution control certificate. Nabi is believed to have been the last person to drive the car before it exploded. Sources say on the morning of 10 November, he left Faridabad for Delhi, hours before the Red Fort blast.
On the same day, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, along with the Haryana Police, conducted raids in Shakeel’s rented premises in Dhouj. The police recovered 2,900 kg of ammunition, including 360 kg of ammonium nitrate.
Ammonium nitrate fuel oil is suspected to have been in the i20 that exploded.
Before reaching the Sunehri Masjid parking lot, CCTV traces the car at Connaught Place and Mayur Vihar. It stayed at the spot for three hours.
Nabi too didn’t leave until 6.48 pm when he paid the parking fee and drove out in the i20. Two minutes later, the vehicle exploded.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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