NEW DELHI, Feb 2: Suspecting involvement of Iran in the low-intensity blast outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, India has handed over the inquiry to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for a thorough probe.
The union home ministry on Tuesday handed over the probe to the NIA. “The premier investigating agency will look into the Iran angle,” official sources said. The police, however, are yet to find out the people who might have actually planted the bomb.
“The NIA has been roped in as case has international ramifications. The case file and evidence collected so far by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell including the explosive sample, CCTV footage and the ‘threat letter’ recovered from the blast site will be handed over to the central agency,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.
According to counter-terrorism officials in New Delhi, there is enough to suggest the involvement of Tehran in the blast. The police have already started looking for the Iranians who had landed in India for the last one month or so to find out any possible clue of their involvement in the blast which many experts felt could be a mere “trailer” before the actual attack.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Monday assured his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu of punishing the perpetrators of the low-intensity bomb blast on January 29 which did not cause any injury to anyone but windscreens of several cars parked in the embassy compound were shattered.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the two leaders spoke on phone and Modi told Netanyahu that India gives high importance to the safety and security of Israeli diplomats and embassy.
(Manas Dasgupta)