Delhi blast: NIA gets a few leads, 4 grilled in J&K

New Delhi: There has been no real breakthrough in the Delhi High Court terror strike so far but the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team, which is probing the case, claims to have got a few leads.

Union Home Secretary RK Singh said that shrapnel was used in the blast to maximise the impact and casualties. On Wednesday officials had claimed that shrapnel was not used in the blast as it was carried out using pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), which is a plastic explosive.

Singh has also received the preliminary forensic report on the blast.

"We have got some forensic reports. We are waiting for more information," said the Home Secretary.

He added that a reward of 5 lakh has been announced by the NIA for any information related to the blast.

The investigators have also traced the origin of the e-mail claiming responsibility for the blast to the Global Cyber Cafe situated in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. The owner of the cyber cafe and three others have been detained and are being questioned.

The e-mail was reportedly sent by terror group Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) but sources say that it could also be a red herring as the organisation is not know to claim responsibility about the terror strike through e-mails.

The e-mail was sent from the id [email protected] and claimed that the blast was carried out in retaliation to the death sentence awarded to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The interrogation of the four revealed that a youngster could have sent the mail as Afzal Guru's case is an emotive issue in the region. Police are now looking for this youngster.

Singh also ruled out the possibility of the involvement of a Hyundai i10 car which was recovered from Faridabad near New Delhi on Thursday morning in the case. The terrorists reportedly used a Hyundai i10 car as a getaway vehicle after planting the suitcase bomb at the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the blast has risen to 12 after a victim succumbed to his injuries early on Thursday morning. Ninety-one people have been injured and some of them face amputation due to injuries caused by shrapnel.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram chaired a meeting of the chiefs of the Research and Analysis Wing, Intelligence Bureau and NIA on Thursday morning to review the security situation.