The Hindu : New Delhi News : Red alert sounded in Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Red alert sounded in Delhi

Devesh K. Pandey

TV news channel Aaj Tak claims it received two e-mails on Thursday warning about the explosions

NEW DELHI: A high alert has been sounded in the Capital and the borders sealed in the wake of the twin explosions inside the Jama Masjid on Friday.

Even as the police launched a hunt for the culprits, Hindi TV news channel Aaj Tak claimed that it received two e-mails on Thursday warning that a conspiracy was being hatched to carry out explosions inside the Jama Masjid. Soon after the blasts on Friday, the Hindi news channel received another e-mail that said: "I had warned you." The police are now trying to trace the person who sent the e-mails.

Patrolling intensified

Additional forces were deployed in the walled city to control the huge crowds that gathered outside the Jama Masjid after the blasts. The Rapid Action Force was also deployed. The district police heads were directed to intensify patrolling and enhance deployment at religious places.

Senior police officers held meetings with community leaders, urging them to maintain harmony in their areas and prevent the spread of rumours.

Police teams formed

After the crowds dispersed from the Jama Masjid, four police teamswere formed to make enquiries at guesthouses and hotels in the walled city. The Special Cell of the Delhi police was asked to scan mobile phone calls made from the Jama Masjid area before and after the explosions.

The police also sought help from their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh. The statements of the injured would be recorded to get evidence. "There were not many people near the mosque's tank where the blasts took place. We are trying to contact them to find out if they had seen anyone planting the bombs," said a police officer.

Crude devices

The bombs used in the twin blasts appear to be similar to the ones used by the Pakistan-based top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant, Abdul Karim Tunda, to trigger explosions in the Capital way back in 1996-98.

Initial investigations have indicated that no timer device was used in the bombs, creating a strong suspicion that chemicals -- readily available in the market -- were used to prepare them. The technique of manufacturing such crude bombs was popularised by Tunda in the mid-1990s.

The police suspect that similar bombs were used in the explosions at Jama Masjid on Friday.

Though the police are probing the role of all the extremist outfits, it is learnt that for the time being they are concentrating more on local groups suspected to be operating from Delhi or neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

"The nature of injuries and fewer number of casualties suggest that the explosions were carried out just to create terror. The real motive behind the blasts was not to kill but to send across some message," said a police officer.

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