INDIA: Police investigate claims obscure Kashmiri group triggered Delhi bombs as country remains on high alert

Record ID: 1372154

  • Title: INDIA: Police investigate claims obscure Kashmiri group triggered Delhi bombs as country remains on high alert
  • Date: 31st October 2005
  • Summary: (W3) NEW DELHI, INDIA (OCTOBER 30, 2005) (ANI) M. S. BITTA, PRESIDENT OF THE ALL INDIA ANTI-TERRORIST FRONT (AIATF) AND ACTIVISTS PROTESTING AGAINST TERRORISM WITH OTHERS MORE OF BITTA SHOUTING ANTI-PAKISTAN SLOGANS (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2005 17:14
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA2PEER9S72RXG7TFV7T75N56BI
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: All major cities across India were put on high security alert on Sunday (October 30) after three powerful blasts in New Delhi killed at least 59 people in busy markets.
    In Meerut, Delhi's satellite city, policemen armed with guns frisked people at various checkpoints. Round-the-clock security checks are being conducted in areas of Meerut where members of the public gather. Sniffer are being used to check for explosives.
    "The railway stations, bus stations and the hotels are being thoroughly checked since the morning," said Umesh Srivastav, Superintendent of Police in Meerut. "We have told the hotel owners to give us all the details of all the people who have checked into their hotels since yesterday afternoon. We will investigate thoroughly," he said.
    Workers in the Indian capital on Sunday morning began clearing the debris of the blasts that turned the festive markets into tangles of charred bodies, severed limbs and shattered shops.
    An obscure Kashmiri militant group claimed responsibility, but analysts said it was probably a front for a larger Pakistani-based group. The previously unknown Islami Inqilabi Mahaz (Islamic Revolutionary) Group, contacted a news agency in Indian Kashmir to say they carried out the attacks, and that there were more to come.
    New Delhi has so far refused to speculate on who was behind the atrocities, but security experts instead see the hand of Lashkar-e-Taiba (Force of the Pure) in an attempt to derail the peace process between India and Pakistan, over disputed Kashmir.
    Delhi Police told a packed news conference they are trying to verify the claim.
    "Islamic Inquilabi Mahaz. It is an old organisation formed in 1996," said Joint Commissioner of Police Karnal Singh, "It is not a very active organisation and is connected to the Lashker-e-taiba. The police are still investigating about it and trying to verify it," he added.
    Singh denied local media reports that police had detained 20 people. "No person has been arrested or detained till now. Investigations are still on and once we get a clue then only will we be able to tell you about it," he said.
    Across India, hundreds of anti-terrorism activists took to streets claiming Islamic guerrillas were behind the bombings. Protesters in New Delhi demanded that the government ensure stricter laws to deter people from helping those willing to carry out attacks. While in Bhopal, effigies of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf were burnt by the right-wing Hindu group, 'Bhajrang Dal'.
    Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday promised help to restore the health of the people wounded. Singh visited the Safdarjung Hospital where most of the wounded in Sarojini Nagar blast were admitted.
    The explosions came within within half an hour of each other in markets packed with shoppers just days before major Hindu and Muslim festivals. Many of the victims were women and children.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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