New Delhi: At least 11 peple died and 91 injured after a high intensity bomb blast outside the Delhi High Court on Wednesday morning. The bomb, reportedly a combination of ammonium nitrate and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) was planted in a briefcase, exploded at 10:14 am outside Gate No. 5 of the court, where more that 100 litigants had gathered for passes to enter the court's premises.
Though terror group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) has claimed responsibilty of the blast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram didn't confirm the claim made by the terror outfit.
"It's too early to say which group is involved," said Manmohan Singh.
Chidamabarm also said in the Lok Sabha that the terror group behind the dastardly attack has not been identified.
An e-mail sent from the id harkatuljihadi2011@gmail.com claimed that HuJI had carried out the blast in retaliation of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's death sentence.
What made planting of the bomb in one of the most high security area an easy job was the fact that there were no CCTV cameras installed at the gate. Even the metal detectors and scanners were not functioning making the task of checking and frisking hundreds of litigants, lawyers and visitors a tough job for the security personnel.Unlike most of the recent bomb blasts, the terror strike at the High Court was carried out in the morning and the day was also carefully chosen as Wednesday is one of the heaviest days of court business because it is the day when Public Interest Litigations (PILs) are filed.
The investigations into the blast will be carried out by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). NIA chief SC Sinha announced that a team of 20 officials will investigate the case.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Wednesday released the sketch of the suspects in the blast that took place outside the Delhi High Court. One of the suspects is around 26 years of age and 5"9' tall, while the second suspect is believed to be around 50 years.
What is extremely worrying is the blast took place in a high security area with Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office and India Gate in the vicinity and comes less than four months after an explosion took outside the same complex.
The injured were taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital with some of them reportedly in a critical condition.
"Four persons are critically injured," said Chidambaram.
Out of the 91 injured, 74 people wer discharged after first aid from the various hospitals, while 17 persons were discharged from Delhi High Court dispensary itself.
Both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister visited the injured at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Wednesday.
"We have some leads on today's blast but it is too early to say which group is behind it. There are weaknesses in our security system and terrorists are taking advantage of them, we have to overcome these," Manmohan Singh, who arrived in New Delhi after his two-day Bangladesh visit, said after meeting the injured and enquired about their condition from doctors.
Singh, who arrived in New Delhi after his two-day Bangladesh visit, met the injured and enquired about their condition from doctors.
"Doctors are making every effort to save their lives. The detailed forensic science examination reports are likely to available by tomorrow. Apart from the main team of 20 persons, NIA has deputed a support team of 17 officers and men to assist in the investigation. Delhi Police are working with the NIA team and are undertaking several key tasks that have been assigned to them. Experts in bomb blasts who have been called from FSL Gujarat are also closely examining the scene of the blast and are likely to come up with critical evidence regarding the nature of the blast soon," said Chidambaram after visiting the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Wednesday evening.
The Delhi government announced that Rs 4 lakh would be given as compensation for families who have lost adult members and Rs 1.5 lakh to families who have lost minors. The seriously injured will get Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 will be given to those who sustained minor injuries. Those permanently incapacitated in the blast will get Rs 2 lakh.Wednesday's attack is the worst terror attack in the capital since the triple blasts on September 13, 2008 in which 25 people were killed. On September 13, 2008 serials blasts had rocked Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and Greater Kailash in the capital in which over 150 people were injured.
Helpline numbers: Safdarjung Hospital: 011-26707444
RML Hospital: 011-23348200, 23404446, 23743769, 23404478
AIIMS: 011-26588700
Location of Delhi High Court
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