Second Islamist group claims Delhi blast

Indian media have received a second claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s blast at the High Court in Delhi. As the death toll rose to 12, police were questioning at least three people in Indian-held Kashmir over the email which contained the first claim.

Reuters

The owner of a cybercafe, Mehmood Aziz Khwaja, his brother Khalid Aziz and a café employee were detained for questioning in India’s only Muslim-majority state but not charged.

The investigation is being run by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a body set up in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
 

Police said they had traced the email, purportedly from the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji) Islamist group, to a computer there. They are now looking for a young man who is believed to have sent the email, according to the IBN website, which says that a fourth man was also questioned.

Anti-terrorist police are also reported to have raided a Huji member’s home in Uttar Pradesh state.

A new email on Thursday claimed the attack in the name of Indian Mujahideen, a group which was blamed for attacks in 2008 on shopping areas, which killed 22 people.

"We have some leads but it is too early to say which group is behind it," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters on his plane as he returned late Wednesday from an official visit to Bangladesh.

Police have issued sketches of two suspects wanted for questioning and offered 500,000 rupees (7,700 euros) for information.

A 12th victim died early Thursday morning and up to 91 people are reported to have been injured.

Amid widespread criticism in the Indian press, Singh admitted that the bombers had taken advantage of weaknesses in state security.

The Delhi blast was a “heinous terrorist attack”, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a message of condolence.

"France is at India's side during this distressing ordeal and I am more determined than ever to fight this barbaric scourge together," he said, adding that the fight against terrorism "unites us and we shall always pursue our efforts relentlessly".