NAGPUR, India — The hand grenades used in the failed attack on the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Thursday were similar to those used in the attack on the Indian Parliament by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists five years ago.
The claim was made yesterday by city Police Commissioner Shiv Prasad Singh Yadav, who also said that a diary belonging to one of the slain terrorists recovered from the vehicle used in the attack contained contact telephone numbers, but none of the telephone numbers was Indian.
According to police sources, the team investigating the failed attack has reached the conclusion that the attack on the RSS headquarters was directed by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence and carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba activists.
The sources said the police reached this conclusion after establishing the identities of the three terrorists who were killed. They were Afzal Ahmed Butt and Bilal Ahmed Butta — both from Lahore — and Muhammed Usman Habib from Gujranwala.
However, Police Commissioner Yadav refused to confirm the identities of the terrorists. He said the grenades used by the terrorists bore the marks of Arges, an Austrian company, which has been given manufacturing licenses by several countries including Pakistan.
