New Delhi: Investigators on Thursday detained five people including a cybercafe owner in Jammu and Kashmir and questioned another in Bihar as they groped for definite leads into the briefcase bomb blast outside Delhi High Court.
After HuJI claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s terror attack, Indian Mujahideen(IM) in an email on Thursday to media houses purportedly sent by the group made a similar claim perplexing probe agencies which did not rule out a prank. IM claimed HuJI had no role to play in the blast.
Investigators traced yesterday’s email of Bangladesh- based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami(HuJI) to a cybercafe in Kishtwar in J and K and detained for questioning its owner Mehmood Khawja, his brother Majid, their domestic help Ashwani and two others.
The death toll in the blast that ripped through the reception complex meanwhile rose to 12 with a 40-year-old man succumbing to his injuries at RML Hospital even as the High Court resumed fullfledged proceedings after tight security checks at the entry gates.
“We are investigating the email link from Kishtwar district in connection with the Delhi blast,” J and K DGP Kuldeep Khoda said in Jammu.
The mail from IM was purportedly written by “Chotoo” and sent from “[email protected]”. The mail was received by the media houses at 12:37 PM today.
“We are examining the email received by the media houses..about its authenticity and veracity and (we are) taking it seriously,” Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry U K Bansal told reporters.
Bansal also said that some information indicating a Kashmir link with yesterday’s HuJI mail are being pursued with the help of J and K police.
Security agencies including National Investigation Agency (NIA) are also looking into the IM email but serious apprehensions were being raised whether this was a genuine mail or a prank being played by somebody.
NIA also announced a reward of Rs five lakh for anyone providing clues about the blast.
In Patna, a man who was arrested on charges of using a stolen ATM card, is being interrogated by the joint team led by NIA in connection with the blast probe. (PTI)
