Why Delhi blast probe is at a dead end

Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa finds out why over a month after the blast near the Delhi High Court, investigators have not yet been able to pinpoint the terror outfit that carried out the operation.

Was it the Indian Mujahideen or the Hizbul Mujahideen or the Harkat-ul-Jihadi? Investigators are still clueless about the outfit that carried out the blast near the Delhi High Court on September 7, 2011.

However, what the investigators do know is that this operation was controlled from Bangladesh. Most of the terrorist strikes on Indian soil are usually remote-controlled from Pakistan. However, in the case of the Delhi blast, it is clear that certain elements in Bangladesh had a role to play.

Going by the various intercepts and dossiers on terror outfits, it becomes clear that the HuJI has a bigger presence in Bangladesh when compared to the Hizbul Mujahideen. If one tends to stick to the basics, then it is a clear cut HuJI operation controlled out of Bangladesh.

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Intelligence Bureau officials, however, do not rule out the possibility of various elements from different outfits coming together to carry out these blasts. Although a probe team will seek Bangladesh's help for details on this case, more angles would be looked into internally.

NIA sources say that they are piecing together the details and would require more time to crack the case.

Sources told rediff.com, "There were mails from the Indian Mujahideen and HuJI after the blasts. At the moment, it does not appear as though any dedicated organisation carried out the attack, but what we see is the coming together of several youth to carry out this strike."

"There has been a deliberate ploy to mislead the investigators and hence there have been so many mails. Moreover, each of the youth, during their questioning, has given out names of different outfits, complicating the probe further. First the HuJI sent a mail and then the IM claimed responsibility. Further, it came to light that the man who planted the bomb belonged to the HM."

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The investigators have questioned several cadres of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Recently the NIA picked up one Dr Wasim. From his interrogation, it emerged that he had some links with the Hizbul Mujahideen, which is very active in Kashmir. But besides that investigators have not been able to pick up any information about the Delhi attack.

Dr Wasim's father, meanwhile, has been crying foul. He claims that his son had met the NIA only to coopearate with the investigation. He never expected that his son would be made an accused in the case.

Abid Hussain, also in the NIA custody, has more details regarding the creation of the e-mail than the actual blast.

The NIA, on its part, appears to be taking a long shot with the help of Dr Wasim to get to his brother Junaid Malik who has traces of the HM association.

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According to investigators, Junaid was present in Delhi and may be the one who planted the bomb.

Besides Junaid, the NIA is looking out for two more men -- Amir Kamaal (who allegedly was with Junaid on the day the blast) and Jahangir Saroori (who allegedly procured the explosives).

Even as the NIA probes this aspect of the case, the Intelligence Bureau is closely tracking the movement of HM operatives.

The HM has, all these years, restricted its fight to Kashmir and has not really looked at carrying out attacks in other Indian cities like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba or the Indian Mujahideen.

IB sources say, 'There is a fixed pattern in the manner in which these outfits carry out terror strikes. Hence, we feel that this must be an operation that was carried out with the coming together of a couple of youth. This is exactly why there was no proper intel on this incident because if it were to be a full fledged HM operation then there would have been proper traces leading up to the outfit.'