On 22 December 2000, a terrorist attack took place on the

Red Fort The Red Fort, also known as Lal Qila () is a historic Mughal Empire, Mughal fort in Delhi, India, that served as the primary residence of the Mughal emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, fo ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was carried out by the Pakistani terrorist group

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

. It killed two soldiers and one civilian, in what was described by the media as an attempt to derail the India-Pakistan peace talks. The Red Fort is an extremely important Indian facility as it hosts the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

annually on 15 August which is the

Indian Independence Day Independence Day is celebrated annually on 15 August as a public holiday in India commemorating the nation's independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947. On this day the Indian Independence Act 1947 came into effect, transferri ...

. It is also significant historically as it was taken over from British control and is an iconic site in India.

Attack

On 22 December 2000 starting at approximately 9:00 pm, two

militants began firing indiscriminately and gunned down two army jawans belonging to the 7th

Rajputana Rifles The Rajputana Rifles is the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army, having been founded in 1775. It traces its origins to the British Indian Army, when six previously existing regiments were amalgamated to form six battalions of the 6th ...

and a civilian security guard. The troops were placed at the fort due to its extreme importance within Indian history. The Red Fort used to house

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

barracks; it was taken over by the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

after Indian independence from the British rule. The intruders received returning fire from the Quick Reaction Team of the battalion. All the intruders escaped the Red Fort by scaling over the boundary wall on the rear side of the complex.

Casualties

A total of three persons- Abdullah Thakur, a civilian sentry,

Rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifling, rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction o ...

Uma Shankar Singh, and Naik Ashok Kumar- died as a result of the attack. Naik Ashok Kumar succumbed to his injuries in a Delhi hospital hours after the event occurred.

Assailants

The attack on Red Fort was orchestrated by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Indian courts convicted six others in October 2005, with sentences of variety of lengths. In September 2007, due to the lack of evidence, the six other assailants were released. The Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, took responsibility of the attacks. The attacks strained already tense relations between India and Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Bilal Ahmed Kawa who planned and executed the terror attack was arrested in a joint operation by the Special Cell of the

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Delhi Police falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. In 2024, the sanctioned strength of Delhi Police w ...

and the

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

ATS from the Delhi Airport on 10 January 2018. It took 17 years to arrest him. The 37-year-old was remanded to a Police Special Cell in Delhi for further probing. He was arrested on the basis of a tip-off received by Gujarat ATS regarding his movement from

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

to Delhi.

References

External links

Summary
at

Global Terrorism Database The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is a database of terrorist incidents from 1970 onward. As of May 2021, the list extended through 2019 recording over 200,000 incidents, although data from 1993 is excluded. The database is maintained by the Na ...

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

at

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Red Fort attack Terrorist incidents in India in 2000 Murder in Delhi Red Fort 2000 murders in India 2000s in Delhi December 2000 in India December 2000 crimes in Asia Military history of Delhi Lashkar-e-Taiba attacks Islamic terrorist incidents in 2000 Attacks on military installations in 2000 Attacks on military installations in India

Attack

Casualties

Assailants

See also

References

External links