Red Fort blast: NIA gets 45 more days to file chargesheet

With the NIA yet to file a chargesheet in the Red Fort blast incident even after more than three months, a special court on Friday extended the period of investigation for further 45 days. Incidentally, the agency had sought an extension of 90 days to complete the investigation in the case.

In other words, the agency has now got another 45 days to file a chargesheet in the blast case. The special NIA court also extended the judicial custody of the seven accused in the incident till March 13.

The development has come as the NIA, as has been reported by The Tribune, is yet to find any concrete evidence regarding the involvement of any terror outfit behind the November 10, 2025 blast incident outside Red Fort, in which 15 persons were killed and several others were injured.

According to sources close to the development, the NIA probe is also exploring the possibility of an unknown Pakistan-based terror outfit’s likely involvement.

On December 14, 2025, The Tribune had reported that the possibility of an unidentified Pakistan-based outfit is not being ruled out behind the incident, more so as the involvement of any major group, including Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), hasn’t been ascertained, according to sources privy to details regarding the ongoing probe into the incident.

Significantly, funding of the blast, apparently part of several such attacks planned by the perpetrators, has been linked to Pakistan by the NIA probe, the sources informed further. They said the probe till now seems to be indicating towards the apparent involvement of a relatively new Pakistan-based outfit, which could likely be a sleeper cell too.

Incidentally a UNSC report, released earlier this month, while quoting a member state, has noted that Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) was ‘reported’ to be linked to the blast incident.

“One member state noted that Jaish-i-Mohammed had claimed the responsibility for a series of attacks. It was also reported to be linked to an attack on the Red Fort, New Delhi, on November 10 that killed 15 people,” the report of the UNSC’s committee on sanctions said.

Recently, the NIA in its statement on achievements of year 2025 had said that it “also made remarkable progress in its ongoing probe in the Delhi Red Fort blast case in which as many as nine accused were arrested in less than two months of the terrorist attack that killed 11 persons and left several others injured”.

The NIA has connected the November 10 blast in the national capital to what it described as a “white-collar” terror network uncovered earlier by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. According to the agency’s findings so far, the vehicle used in the explosion was allegedly driven by Umar-ul-Nabi, identified as the suicide attacker. Investigators have termed the incident the first car-borne suicide bombing in Delhi.

Recently, the court permitted the NIA to question Yasir Ahmad Dar — the ninth person arrested in the case — for an additional 10 days. The custody of co-accused Bilal Naseer Malla was also extended.