Digital Footprints and Tech Trail: How Red Fort Blast Plot Unravelled

Investigators say that one of the key accused — Dr Muzammil Ganaie, a medical professional recently arrested in connection with the blast — had made multiple reconnaissance visits to areas around the Red Fort, including during January 2025, as evidenced by mobile tower-pings and CCTV footage.

Dr Ganaie’s phone tower logs placed him near Netaji Subhash Marg in early January — the same route likely to be used for the Republic Day parade.

His digital footprint shows a pattern of short visits, staying near the Metro station and heritage zone, suggesting surveillance of security deployment.

Dump data retrieved from his and an associate’s devices includes encrypted chats, transaction logs, and links to logistics support — indicating a network rather than a lone attack.

The authorities highlight how modern tools helped fast-track several key leads:

CCTV cameras in Old Delhi, including those around the Red Fort and Metro-gate zones, provided frame-by-frame tracking of the vehicle and the suspects’ movements.

Mobile forensics enabled recovery of deleted logs, geo-coordinates, tower pings and interpersonal communication links.

Online payment and banking trail investigations revealed funding flows and procurement channels for explosives and electronic components.

Geospatial data mapping and temporal analytics helped map patterns of behaviour: when the suspects visited target zones, how long they stayed, and what vehicles they used.

Investigative agencies believe the sequence unfolded roughly as follows:

1. Early 2025 (January) – Reconnaissance: Suspects visit the Red Fort area repeatedly, map traffic flow, parking zones, CCTV coverage, timing of crowds.

2. Mid-2025 – Procurement & preparation: Digital records show transactions for explosive materials, vehicle hire, and modules of logistic support.

3. 10 Nov 2025 – Execution: A vehicle (identified as a white Hyundai i20) detonated near the Red Fort Metro station at peak traffic.

4. Post-blast – Data analysis: Phone dumps, CCTV retrieval, debit/credit trails and inter-state coordination paved the way for arrests and module breakdown.

Analysts say that this episode highlights how terror modules are increasingly using tech and digital anonymity to plan, prepare and execute attacks. The ability of security agencies to counter this depends on their digital forensics capabilities, real-time data access and cross-agency coordination.

The fact that the vehicle sat parked hours before the explosion, and that the reconnaissance was months earlier, signal a level of planning that uses digital tools at every step.

The suspects used encrypted communication and erased logs — investigators still face back-doors in the data chain.

The cross-state nature of movement (including links in Haryana, UP and J&K) complicates jurisdiction and data-sharing.

With more devices, cloud-storage and anonymised transactions, the next wave of terror investigations will rely even more heavily on tech-toolkits and legislative backing for data-retrieval.

Privacy and civil-liberties concerns escalate as broad digital sweeps become part of counter-terror operations.

Agencies are now:

Extracting and analysing data from all mobile devices related to the module.

Tracing funding chains: who paid for vehicles, explosives, logistics.

Scrutinising past mobile-tower data to find other suspicious visits to sensitive zones.

Linking the digital trail with physical evidence — vehicle debris, explosion materials, blast-radius mapping.

Considering wider modules and sleeper-cells, given the sophistication of the evidence.

This investigation into the Red Fort blast is rapidly becoming a textbook case of how modern terror plots are being mapped and disrupted through digital forensics. The success of the probe will not just be judged by arrests, but by how well the tech-trail leads to dismantling the entire network behind the attack. As India ramps up its counter-terror tech arsenal, this case may mark a turning point in how digital tools are used to protect the country’s most sensitive landmarks and public spaces.