Govt looks abroad for blast clues

Sources say that investigators probing the September 7 blasts have asked their counterparts in South East Asia if they have picked up any information or communication links on the attack that rocked the national capital.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram confirmed that help from abroad has been sought even as investigators at home, led by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), are working round the clock to crack the case. He also said each thread of information and leads is being seriously pursued.

“As far as investigations are concerned, there are promising leads but I can’t yet call them very conclusive leads,” he said. Sources also said home agencies are in regular touch with their counterparts abroad, especially investigators in the US, to ascertain if the perpetrators are mere home grown or have acted with help from outside the countries.

Meanwhile, the detention and questioning of people in relation to the emails claiming responsibility for the blasts continued on Sunday. Not less than four mails claiming responsibility for the attack have been sent to the authorities.

The first mail, which came hours after the blasts from Kishtwar town in Jammu &Kashmir, claimed that the outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) was responsible for the attack, while the second one from the ID chotoominani 5@gmail.com, linked the attacks to Indian Mujahideen.

The third email was sent to the Delhi Police on September 9 also warned of an attack on Ahmedabad. After the email warning, Gujarat has been put on high alert.

Seven people have been questioned in J&K regarding the Kishtwar email, sent from one of the town’s cyber cafes.

Three, including two who own the café, have been held, while four more have been arrested in which two of them are surrendered militants.

Suspects let off

On Friday, two men—Abdul Gani (45) and Miyan Ahemad (35), from Anantnag district in Kashmir—were detained in the Alwar district of Rajasthan after some people reported that their faces resembled the sketches of the blast suspects released by the Delhi Police. However, after the interrogation Rajasthan Police officials said they were not involved in any terror activity.

Two men were also detained in Mumbai, but were released after questioning. "Yes, they were questioned. However, they do not seem to be connected (with the Delhi blast) and were allowed to go," Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria said.

The National Investigating Agency has formed a 20-member team to find out the group that perpetrated the attack.

The investigating agencies have also asked 700 hotels in the national capital to provide CCTV footage hoping to get some clues.