Ahead of Commonwealth Games, gunmen target Delhi's Jama Masjid

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games early next month, suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) activists tried to spread a terror scare in New Delhi by resorting to random shooting outside the Jama Masjid on Sunday morning.

Two Taiwanese nationals were injured when motorcycle-borne attackers in raincoats opened fire around 11am. Two hours later, a crude pressure cooker bomb exploded in a car in the same area.

In an e-mail sent to several news organisations, the IM, which has strong links to the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, hinted at responsibility for the attack. It also threatened terror strikes during the Games, besides criticising the killing of young Muslim men in Kashmir.

The e-mail referred to “this attack” as a revenge for the killing of its members earlier in the national capital. On September 19, 2008, two members of the banned outfit were killed in an encounter with the Delhi police. The IM is accused of masterminding the September 2008 Delhi serial bombings. The police are now trying to trace the source of the e-mail even as they say that the attack was not by a terror group, but a scare-mongering tactic ahead of the Games.

The two injured — Zeseweiu and Chiang — were rushed to the nearby government Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan hospital. Union home minister P Chidambaram visited them later in the day.

“While Zeseweiu had a miraculous escape after the bullet passed through his head, Chiang had an abdominal injury. A bullet was embedded in his abdomen and complex surgery was carried out to remove it. Both are recuperating,” a doctor at the hospital said.   

The police, meanwhile, are trying to establish the link between the shooting incident and the pressure cooker bomb that went off in a car. “The car belonged to a local resident. It could be the handiwork of some disgruntled youth or local criminals trying to create panic. No one was injured in the accident,” a police official said, adding nothing could be confirmed at the moment.

The police are questioning Salim, a rickshaw-puller, who is the prime witness in the case. He told reporters that he was standing some distance away when he saw two fair skinned and tall men on a bike. “They reached near the bus and shot indiscriminately at the tourists,” he said.

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has expressed concern over the incident. The Delhi police have issued a red alert after the incident and beefed up security across the city.