New Delhi: The Delhi Police has launched a terror probe into the blast that occurred near the Israeli embassy on Tuesday evening, officials said on Saturday. The police has registered an FIR against “unknown” people under the Explosive Substances Act and the Indian Penal Code at the Tughlak Road Police Station, based on a complaint filed by a police officer, an official said. The police has also handed over the case to the Special Cell, the anti-terror unit of the Delhi Police, to “uncover the deeper conspiracy” behind the blast, the official added.
The blast took place in a secluded area behind the Israeli embassy on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road, which runs parallel to Prithviraj Road. The area, which has no CCTV camera, is between the boundary walls of a house on plot number 4 – Nanda’s House – and the Central Hindi Training Institute on plot number 2A. No one was injured in the blast.
The police has recovered an “abusive” letter addressed to the Israeli ambassador from near the blast site. Sources said the one-page letter written in English is suspected to be linked to an organisation called Sir Allah Resistance and mentions words like “Zionists”, “Palestine” and “Gaza”.
On Friday, the police told PTI that they were planning to register an FIR as they had found “crucial evidence” indicating a conspiracy to threaten the Israeli envoy.
The police has also scanned footage from multiple CCTV cameras installed around the blast site and identified a suspect who had arrived from Jamia Nagar in an autorickshaw. The police has questioned 10 autorickshaw drivers, including the one who dropped the suspect at the spot before the blast.
The police has also collected a broken dial of a watch and some steel bearings from the blast site but it is not clear if they were used in the explosion. The police is waiting for reports from the National Security Guard’s (NSG) laboratory, where samples from the spot have been sent to determine the components used in the explosion.
The police has recorded the statements of a dozen people who claimed to have heard the loud noise of the blast. The statements reveal that the witnesses saw a vehicle that broke down near the blast site.