Delhi Blast: Did police claim CNG cylinder led to explosion? No, fabricated statement by top cop goes viral

After 13 people were killed in a high-intensity blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on the evening of November 10, speculation about the plausible reasons behind the explosion flooded social media.

According to police, a slow-moving vehicle — a Hyundai i20 car — exploded near the Red Fort metro’s gate 1 around 6:52 pm. While there have been some reports linking the blast to a terror module, the police are still investigating. However, several social media users claimed that the blast was owing to a CNG cylinder explosion in the car and not a terror attack. Note that CNG vehicles are common in Delhi.

A post by X page @TeamSaath on November 10 said that it was a “tragic CNG cylinder explosion” and attributed the information to special commissioner of police (law & order) Ravindra Singh Yadav. “The high casualty figure is because the blast happened in a crowded pick-up zone right outside Red Fort Metro Gate 1 during evening rush and resultant fire spread to nearby vehicles. As confirmed by Special CP Ravindra Yadav (Law & Order),” the post read.

The post has now been deleted.

X account @azaadfactcheck claimed the news of a terror attack was “disinformation by an India-military–run X handle from the DPRO Lucknow office”. Sharing the image of a CNG cylinder, the post also said: “However, Azaad has obtained an image of the CNG cylinder that actually exploded, with Delhi Police standing next to it.”

At the time of writing this report, the post had over 38,000 views. (Archive)

Azaad Fact Check has identified the spread of disinformation by an India-military–run X handle from the DPRO Lucknow office, which falsely claimed that the blast in Delhi was a terrorist attack. However, Azaad has obtained an image of the CNG cylinder that actually exploded, with… https://t.co/uWFA42uQ50 pic.twitter.com/Gzcqrzhd2r

— Azaad Fact Check (@azaadfactcheck) November 10, 2025

News outlet Republic initially claimed that police sources had ‘confirmed’ that the blast was caused by a CNG cylinder.

BREAKING | Red Fort Explosion Updates
What We Know:

-NIA and NSG teams arrive at spot
-Eyewitness shares account from exact moment of explosion
-Police sources confirm CNG cylinder caused the blast
-Delhi NCR put on high alert

Tune in for more LIVE updates:… pic.twitter.com/NYFmArU7Lw

— Republic (@republic) November 10, 2025

Fact Check

To verify this, we ran a keyword search to check if Special Commissioner of police (Law & Order) Ravindra Yadav actually issued such a statement. We did not find any news reports that quoted him saying so. No such statement — text, audio or video — was issued by the X handles of Yadav or the Delhi police either.

When Alt News reached out to Special CP (Law & Order) Ravindra Yadav’s office regarding the claims, they denied that Yadav made any such statement and called the claims fake.

Further, we also came across an X post from the Press Information Bureau’s fact-check handle (@PIBFactCheck) that Special CP (Law & Order) Ravindra Yadav did not issue any such statement.

Some social media accounts are claiming that Special CP (Law & Order) Ravindra Yadav has confirmed that the recent blast in #Delhi was caused by a CNG explosion.#PIBFactCheck

❌ This claim is fake. No official from the Delhi Police has made any such statement.

▶️ The incident… pic.twitter.com/zC0f0qJDtE

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) November 10, 2025

On November 11, the Ministry of Home Affairs handed over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The NIA’s involvement hints that the government considers the blast to be an act of terror. However, an official statement is still awaited. Meanwhile, claims that the police said the blast was caused by a vehicle’s CNG cylinder exploding are fabricated and false.