Red Fort blast: LG wants eyes on dark spots, radical content, sale of fertilizer

The letter instructs the force to maintain a digital record of all major transactions, complete with the photographs of sellers and buyers and other identifiers, to ensure end-to-end tracing of the substance.

The lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Friday directed the police commissioner and chief secretary to issue preventive and intelligence-driven measures aimed at tightening digital surveillance and expanding citizen-centric policing in the city in the aftermath of the Red Fort blast that rattled the Capital earlier this month.

Delhi LG VK Saxena (HT Photo)

According to officials from the LG Secretariat, the LG has asked Delhi Police to revisit and strengthen the standing order governing the sale, transport and storage of ammonium nitrate, the chemical that was used in the blast as an improvised explosive device. The letter instructs the force to maintain a digital record of all major transactions, complete with the photographs of sellers and buyers and other identifiers, to ensure end-to-end tracing of the substance.

The LG has also asked district-level officers to carry out an immediate and rigorous security audit across Delhi’s busiest public spaces, including ISBTs, railway stations, cinema halls, parks and metro stations. The LG’s letter highlights the need for a systematic assessment of security personnel deployment, beat rosters and existing CCTV networks. At dark spots, police have been told to prepare a consolidated report and present it to senior officials for rapid augmentation of surveillance systems.

Further, Saxena has emphasised the strengthening of human and technical intelligence in vulnerable areas.

“Police intelligence network should be strengthened, both through human and tech intel, with a focus on vulnerable areas prone to radicalisation. Community outreach and citizen engagement should also be enhanced for more robust preventive policing,” the LG wrote in his letter.

The LG has also directed Delhi Police to hold consultations with major social media companies, including Meta and X (formerly Twitter) for a “scientific tracking of radicalised content aimed a brainwashing citizens”. This is expected to lead to a more structured information-sharing mechanism between platforms and law enforcement, especially in the early detection of extremist propaganda, officials from the LG secretariat said.

Besides, Saxena issued a parallel set of instructions to the chief secretary to strengthen administrative vigilance across high-risk professional and mobility domains. The CS has been asked to create a centralised database of medical professionals practising in Delhi with an explicit mandate to verify and share details of foreign-earned degrees with the police. Officials believe this measure will help prevent the misuse of forged qualifications and curb the entry of individuals with questionable backgrounds into sensitive medical roles.

“...Create a central data repository, containing records of doctors and para-medical staff engaged by hospitals, especially private, along with details of their medical degrees. In cases where medical professionals have secured degrees from foreign countries, information should also be shared with the police department for secondary background checks,” the letter states.

Additionally, the LG has asked the CS to work closely with vehicle-rental and mobility platforms to curb the misuse of second-hand vehicles or permit-based vehicles that often escape rigorous background checks. Authorities have been asked to explore a unified verification protocol to ensure that ownership changes, rental histories and user identities remain digitally traceable.

“Clear directions should be given that under no circumstance will vehicles be allowed to ply where the actual owner is different from the registered owner. This problem is reportedly most acute in cases of auto rickshaws, where the permit holder is different from the actual owner,” the letter adds.