Delhi blast: Raids in Lucknow home of arrested doc; security tighter across UP

Security checks were intensified across Uttar Pradesh on 11 November, a day after the Delhi car blast near the Red Fort that killed at least 13 people and injured more than two dozen.

Anti-terror agencies and police teams carried out searches in several cities, including state capital Lucknow, where a joint team of the ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad), Lucknow Police and Central agencies raided the Muttaqipur residence of Dr Shaheen Shahid, earlier arrested in connection with the Delhi blast.

Officials collected documents and questioned her family members and neighbours to trace her background, sources said. Her father Syed Ahmad Ansari said he was “shocked to hear of her alleged involvement”.

“I last spoke to Shaheen about a month ago. I have never heard her mention Dr Muzammil or anyone involved in such activities,” he told reporters. Shahid’s brother Mohammad Shoaib and younger brother Parvez Ansari also live with the family.

Police sources said Shahid is believed to have links with Dr Muzammil, from whose possession a large quantity of explosives was earlier seized in Faridabad. Muzammil is wanted by Jammu & Kashmir Police in a separate case related to a social media post allegedly supporting the banned organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Following the blast, security arrangements were tightened across Uttar Pradesh, with police conducting checking drives at crowded markets, Metro stations, shopping malls, railway stations and bus terminals. Bomb disposal and canine squads were also deployed at sensitive locations.

“Vigilance has been increased in all major districts and instructions have been issued for round-the-clock patrolling,” a senior police official said, adding that the alert would continue until further orders.

The heightened alert covers key cities including Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ayodhya, Mathura–Vrindavan, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Saharanpur and Aligarh.

Among the 13 killed in the Delhi blast, two were identified as Ashok Kumar (45), a native of Amroha, and Nauman Ansari (18) of Shamli district — both in Uttar Pradesh — according to police.

With PTI inputs