Red Fort blast a year on: Families still waiting for justice and closure

A year after the deadly blast near Delhi’s Red Fort claimed 12 lives, the families of those killed are still struggling to rebuild their lives, grappling with financial uncertainty, the absence of loved ones and questions about justice.

The November 10, 2025, explosion took place at the junction in front of Red Fort. Investigations later found that Umar-un-Nabi, a doctor originally from Jammu and Kashmir, was allegedly inside the explosives-laden vehicle.

A day later, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case. By December last year, the agency arrested 11 people for allegedly conspiring and providing support to Nabi. Some of those arrested were allegedly linked to Al-Falah University in Faridabad, where they either worked or taught.

Also Read | Omar on 'jilted love' behind Red Fort blast-linked terror cell's capture, no intel for CM | HTLS 2025 The NIA has since filed three charge sheets against 13 people, attributing the attack to a conspiracy allegedly codenamed “Operation Heavenly Hind”, which had purportedly been in preparation since 2022.

Those killed included Amar Kataria, Vinay Pathak, Ashok Kumar, Mohammad Lukman, Lokesh Kumar, Jumman Mohammed, Dinesh Kumar Mishra, Numan Ansari, Mohsin Malik, Pankaj Saini and Bilal Ahmad Sangoo. HT spoke to the families of five of the victims, who described how they have been coping with the loss.

For Ashok Kumar’s wife, Sonam Devi, 26, the tragedy meant leaving Delhi and moving back to her parents’ home in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. Kumar, a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) conductor, was the sole breadwinner for the family.

“I could not manage alone in the city. I had no help from Ashok’s family either. They don’t even ask how my children and I are doing. I moved to my parents’ house in April,” she said. Also Read | Delhi's Red Fort blast that killed 15 linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed: UNSC report Of the ₹10 lakh compensation she received from the Delhi government, she said ₹5 lakh was taken by Ashok’s family.

She has saved the remaining amount for her children’s future. Dinesh Mishra’s brother, Guddu, has similarly put aside the compensation for his two minor daughters. Dinesh worked at a wedding card shop in Chawri Bazar, while his wife and children lived in their village in Ganeshpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Guddu has brought Dinesh’s 13-year-old son to Delhi and enrolled him in a boarding school in west Delhi. “I’ll ensure he studies well,” he said. But Guddu is also frustrated with what he sees as the slow pace of justice.

“Why is the country spending money on them in jail and giving them food? They are terrorists,” he said. For 50-year-old Imraan, from Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district, the loss of his 21-year-old son Noman came when his elder son was already undergoing a kidney transplant.

Noman had dropped out of school after Class 9 to support the family. He first worked alongside his father at a motor repair shop before taking charge of the family’s cosmetic shop when his elder brother developed kidney problems.

Also Read | A year after Red Fort blast, empty homes, shattered dreams and scars that refuse to heal Meanwhile, the family of 52-year-old Vinay Pathak is still waiting for the return of his personal belongings, including a gold Hanuman pendant, a Rudraksh rosary and his janeu.

His phone, too, has not been recovered. Hemani Bhandari is a Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in New Delhi, where she reports on crime, policing, governance and social issues. With over a decade of experience in journalism, she specialises in combining on-ground reporting with evidence-based storytelling to examine the human impact of public policy, law enforcement and urban governance.

Over the years, she has reported extensively on major developments in the capital, including crime investigations, civic challenges, protests, and issues affecting vulnerable communities. As a Special Correspondent, she focuses on producing exclusive investigations, enterprise stories and long-form features that go beyond daily news cycles.

She has a keen interest in using public records, official data and field reporting to uncover systemic issues and present complex subjects in an accessible manner. A graduate of the Asian College of Journalism, Hemani believes in rigorous, ethical and evidence-based reporting.

She is passionate about investigative journalism and continuously seeks to expand her skills in data journalism, open-source investigations and digital reporting techniques.Read More Gargi Shukla is a correspondent with Hindustan Times.

She reports on schools, colleges and issues that affect students, teachers, parents, and educational institutions in India's capital. She closely tracks the political economy of education, student politics, and policy developments shaping the sector in Delhi.

She earlier worked as a sub editor with Outlook Business.Read More