India on Tuesday confirmed that Monday’s bomb attack on a car carrying an Israeli diplomat’s wife in the national capital was a terror strike, but shied away from blaming any group or organisation. Israel blamed Iran for the attack.
“I am not pointing fingers at a particular group or organisation. However, we condemn the attack in the strongest terms,” was the measured response from Union home minister P Chidambaram.
“It is clear that a very well-trained person executed the attack. There is reason to believe that the target was the Israeli diplomat’s wife and therefore, one has to proceed on the basis that it was a terrorist attack.”
“There is no material evidence to name a country that may have planned the attack. It will be known once the probe is over,” home secretary RK Singh, said.
Sources said India is in a catch-22 situation as it has diverse interests with Iran and Israel. While India depends on Israel for strategic and counter-terrorism needs, Iran is crucial as far as the energy sector is concerned. Also, of the 165 million tonnes of oil import, Iran supplies about 13 million tonnes to India.
Security agencies are looking at the possibility of home-bred and neighbouring jihadi elements behind the attack. They are also scanning the Iranian population in and around Delhi apart from those with connections to Iran.
The agencies see a strong circumstantial evidence in the three attacks in two days - in Delhi, Georgia and Tuesday’s triple blasts in Bangkok - as they took place close to the death anniversary of Imad Mughniyah, a senior member of Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based anti-Israel militant organisation. He was killed in a car bombing allegedly by Israeli spy agency Mossad on February 12, 2008.
“We are seeking information about the other two blasts. The bomb used in the Delhi attack was that of a size of a palmtop, not bigger than a brick,” said Delhi police commissioner BK Gupta. He said the material used in the attack has not yet been used in a terror strike in India.
Gupta said five people were detained on Monday evening, but were let off. He appealed to the people to inform the police in case they see an abandoned red bike in the Delhi-National Capital Region. The police are checking the records of hotels in Paharganj where 26/11 terror accused David Coleman Headley had stayed to recce targets for the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management Ajay Sahni ruled out the involvement of the Indian Mujahideen, but warned against coming to a premature conclusion. He was surprised that Israel blamed Iran within 20 minutes of the blast - even before the investigators could inform about the terror strike.
Comments: 1