NEW DELHI: Indian police detained yesterday about a dozen people in connection with the deadly bomb blast in a crowded New Delhi market on Saturday.
Police said they had witnesses who could identify the two men who dropped a plastic bag in the capital's busy Mehrauli market, before speeding away on a motorcycle on Saturday.
A boy picked up the bag and ran after the motorcyclists to return it when there was a huge explosion, killing him on the spot. A 60-year-old man died in hospital later. Twenty-two people were wounded in the blast. “We are interrogating a lot of people for clues and should come up with some answers soon,” Rajan Bhagat, the Delhi police spokesman said yesterday.
In the neighboring state of Haryana, police detained two people in connection with a threat about possible bomb blasts made to Delhi police last Friday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attack and said India would tighten intelligence gathering, as well as the investigation and prosecution process.
“We won’t give up the war on terror and we will fight with all resoluteness to deal with the menace,” PTI quoted him as having said on board an aircraft, while going to France.
While expressing sympathy with the families of those killed, Singh refused to comment on the possible identity of terrorists. “It is not possible for me from this distance to comment on who is responsible for the outrage,” he said.
The death toll rose to three yesterday with an unidentified person succumbing to injuries at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Police said they were investigating possible links between blast and the Indian Mujahedeen group, which they say is connected with Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and Bangladesh’s HUJI group. Investigators said ammonium nitrate, sulphur and potassium were possibly used with nails to cause the low-intensity blast on Saturday.
Police said a woman, who said she spoke to the suspects minutes before the blast, was being questioned.
Citizens in the capital city are exercising caution while going out for shopping in crowded areas. With two major religious occasions — Eid for Muslims and Durga Puja for Hindus — round the corner, market places are full of shoppers providing terrorists with easy targets. Unlike previous years, two blasts in a span of a fortnight have forced people to become extra cautious. Some of them have expressed their dissatisfaction over the security measures taken by the government.
— With input from agencies
