Delhi blast: Third email claim, warns of 'cruel' attack in Ahmedabad

Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the mail was written ''amateurishly'' but was being taken seriously by investigators.


"After the first email, another email arrived and a third arrived today (Friday). These are not being dismissed, although the third one appears to be a very amateurish mail," Chidambaram told reporters, elaborating that it was written with some numerical code pointing towards the next target.

"The code reads as Ahmedabad. So the email sender is hinting that the strike will be at Ahmedabad. But since it's such a simple code, very amateurish code, I am not sure whether it was sent by a serious person. But nevertheless, we are taking it seriously," the home minister said .

IANS got the contents of the third email attributed the Indian Mujahideen that was sent to Delhi Police. It reads: "This is to inform you that we Indian Mujahideen claim the terror attack on (the) Delhi High Court."

The email warns that the next attack "will be so cruel that you people won't be able to forget it for decay (decade)."  "I just want you to pass a message to the Indian government that if you are willing to know the next attack it is 1,8,5,13,4,1,2,1,4. Till you come to know what it stands for, the next blast will be done. If you have any question get back soon because we don't have time for anything."

The email sender identifies himself as Ali Saed el-Hoori and the message was sent from an ID [e-mail].

Chidambaram said a detailed advisory was issued to states, including Gujarat, reiterating to them to take steps and enhance vigil against terror attacks, particularly in metros.

This is the third email sent in as many days since the deadly bombing outside the Delhi High Court Wednesday which killed 13 people and injured more than 90. The earlier emails were attributed to the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami (HuJI) and the home-grown terror group Indian Mujahideen which owned up to the bombing.

The HuJI email was tracked to an internet cafe in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district. It threatened to carry out more such attacks if the death penalty to 2001 parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was not immediately repealed.

Chidambaram said the sender of the HuJI email has been identified and taken into custody. But he did not elaborate.  "The person we are looking for as suspect to the first email has been located and has been taken into custody for interrogation. We would like to wait for that report to come," he said.

Police had earlier picked up the owners of the cafe. A TV network received the second email in which the Indian Mujahideen said it had plotted the attack and warned that its cadres would strike outside a shopping complex Tuesday.

Meanwhile, sleuths led by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are pursuing scattered leads to crack the case but have not achieved any major breakthrough.
Chidambaram said the investigators were not in a position to say if the blast was the handiwork of Pakistan-based terrorists.

"I cannot say if it's the Indian module or the module from across the border," the minister said.