NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has asked the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) to share details of all Iranians settled overseas who came to Delhi in the last one month in connection with Friday’s blast outside the embassy of Israel in central Delhi.
Police are also gathering information of those who stayed at hotels and are questioning citizens of Iran and other West Asian countries staying in different parts of Delhi without a valid visa or with an expired one. Security at the Israeli envoy’s residence as well as other establishments has also been beefed up.
Embassy blast: Unknown entity, Jaish-ul-Hind, claims responsibility
Investigations so far have revealed that around 45,000 mobile numbers were active in the area when the blast occurred. A Special Cell team on Saturday again went to the blast site in an effort to recover evidence. Sources said it appeared that the letter recovered was written neatly and not in haste, indicating full-fledged planning.
“The device was kept in a small dug up area. It was not a very sophisticated device and was assembled using primitive methods. A proper IED device, when it goes off, has a unidirectional impact. However, this one was multi directional,” said the source. An NSG team also inspected the blast site on Saturday. The police have also sent a dupatta recovered from the spot on Friday for forensic examination.
An unknown entity, Jaish-ul-Hind, claimed responsibility for the blast. However, Indian intelligence agencies and Delhi Police’s Special Cell are treating this as a red herring. The group took responsibility for the attack via its Telegram account on Saturday morning.
This is not the only reason why cops think attempts are being made to mislead the investigation. On Friday, cops had also recovered an envelope from the spot with a note containing the names of an Iranian military leader and a scientist who were recently assassinated in different countries. An official said this was unusual in case of an attack by an established entity.
Police have not officially confirmed whether ammonium nitrate or PETN was used in the IED. The special cell is waiting for the forensic analysis report.
On Saturday, a cab driver led a team of cops probing the blast on a wild goose chase after he falsely tipped off the cops about two suspicious men having travelled in his vehicle. The Special Cell sleuths immediately brought the cabbie to their office and after hours of questioning and tracking his mobile phone location it emerged that the driver was drunk and his mobile location throughout the day was near the airport. He was later let off after a strict warning.
A low intensity blast occurred barely 50 metres from the Israel embassy, although no one was injured in the incident but window panes of three vehicles parked nearby were shattered.
The Telegram account of Jaish-ul-Hind posted a message on Saturday saying: “By the grace and help of almighty Allah, soldiers of the Jaish-ul-Hind were able to infiltrate a high security area in Delhi and carry out an IED attack. This Allah willing is the beginning of a series of attacks which would target major Indian cities and pay back in kind to the atrocities committed by the Indian state. Wait and we too are waiting,”.
In the screenshot a picture of the blast site and the above messages was also posted. The cyber cell of the crime branch is investigating the account from which the screenshot went viral.