Delhi HC blast probe: Two detained in Rajasthan

There are no clear leads yet on day four of the probe into Wednesday’s Delhi High Court blast, but investigative agencies have detained two people from Rajasthan’s Alwar on suspicion of their involvement in the terror attack.

Sources said on Saturday that the two have been detained as they resemble the two main suspects whose sketches have been released by the Delhi Police.

The duo were held as they were looking for a hotel at Kishangarh Bas in Alwar. The two hail from Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The detentions came even as a string of emails claiming responsibility for the Delhi HC blast left investigators confused.

Home Minister P Chidambaram Friday said there were "promising" but "not very conclusive leads" in the probe.

Four emails -- three attributing the attack to the home grown terror group Indian Mujahideen -- have been received since the bombing took place on Wednesday.

Two emails, sent from separate IDs, were received on Friday, both warning of another attack - in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city.

The third email warned "that (the attack) will be so cruel that you people will not be able to forget it" for decades.

"If you are willing to know the next attack it is 1,8,5,13,4,1,2,1,4. Till you come to know what it stands for, the next blast will be done."

The email sender identified himself as Ali Saed el-Hoori and the message was sent from the killindia@yahoo.com ID, according to sources. This message was traced to a server located in Moscow.

But the sources said that the email may have been sent from a proxy server having its address in the Russian capital.

Chidambaram said the message written "amateurishly" was being taken seriously by the investigators.

"The third one appears to be a very amateurish mail," Chidambaram told reporters, elaborating that the numerical was a code for Ahmedabad.

"I am not sure whether it was sent by a serious person. Nevertheless, we are taking it seriously," the Home Minister said.

In the evening, a fourth message was received by media houses.

The latest email was sent from chotoominani5@gmail.com, the same address from which the second message was received on Thursday.

Investigators battling for conclusive leads to crack the third worst terror attack since the November 2008 Mumbai strike arrested a man in Jammu and Kashmir who allegedly sent the first email hours after the deadly explosion.

The first message claimed that the attack was done by the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI).

The HuJI email was tracked to an Internet cafe in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district. It threatened to carry out more such attacks if the death penalty to 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was not immediately repealed.

Chidambaram said the sender of the HuJI email has been taken into custody for interrogation. "We would like to wait for that report to come."

The Kashmir police identified the suspect as Mohammad Sayeed who has admitted that he had sent the email from Global Internet Cafe in the Kashmir town.

With Chidambaram making it clear that all mails were being treated seriously, the investigators were busy tracking the senders and the places these mails were sent from.

Sleuths led by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) were pursuing scattered leads to crack the case but have not achieved any major breakthrough.

Chidambaram said preliminary findings of the forensic examination indicated presence of nitrate and traces of some other explosives used in the bomb.

"These findings are being reconciled to get a clear picture of the exact nature of the explosive used in the blast," he said, in an indication that the investigators had not conclusively found what explosive was used.

Sources in know of the investigation process said that the forensic reports from four labs have given a different account on the explosives used in the blast.

They have agreed that some nitrate based substance was used for the bomb, but there is no clarity on the exact compound.

The reports, according to sources, have separately suggested the presence of PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate), nitrate components and some fuel. But there is no consensus.

Chidambaram admitted that the leads followed so far were "not conclusive". "We found there are promising leads, I can't say they are very conclusive leads. These are being pursued round the clock with help of other agencies, abroad too."

Meanwhile, Delhi Police were preparing a third sketch of a suspect of the bombing and were expected to release it Saturday.

"The sketch will be released tomorrow (Saturday)," said a police officer, adding that the earlier two sketches of the men suspected to have placed the suitcase bomb at the Delhi High Court were based on descriptions of eyewitnesses.

Police, acting on a theory that the attackers might have done a recce inside the court premises, are scanning a few of the close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras within the building. However, they have not been able to find a face to match the sketches.

The reward money for any input on the Delhi blast has also been raised to Rs 10 Lakh from Rs 5 lakh declared earlier.

SC rules death for LET terrorist in Red Fort attack

The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed the death sentence of arrested Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Mohammad Arif for masterminding and carrying out the December 2000 Red Fort attack.

A trial court in November 2005 had awarded Arif, alias Ashfaq, the death sentence. Additional Sessions Judge O P Saini had also fined Arif Rs 4.35 lakh for the attack that had left two Rajputana Rifles jawans and a civilian dead.

On December 22, militants had stormed the Red Fort and opened fire on an Army camp inside. The Delhi High Court in 2007 had upheld the trial court's death sentence to Arif.

The high court had also reversed the trial court findings against six convicts including Srinagar-based father-and-son duo Nazir Ahmed Qasid and Farooq Ahmed Qasid, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Pakistani Arif's Indian wife Rehamana Yosuf Farooqui. She was given a seven-year jail term. The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed the death sentence of arrested Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Mohammad Arif for masterminding and carrying out the December 2000 Red Fort attack.

They were earlier found guilty of harbouring Arif, one of the six militants, who had sneaked into the 17th century monument and opened indiscriminate fire on the guards of the seventh battalion of Rajputana Rifles, killing three including a civillian.

Trial court judge Saini had handed down the judgement to Arif under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for waging war against India.

Arif’s wife Farooqi was sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for sheltering her husband “before and after the incident”.

NRI seeks Rs 5000 crore compensation from CBI

The Delhi high court has asked the CBI to respond to an NRI's plea seeking compensation of Rs 5,000 crore for implicating him in a criminal case for 25 years.

Justice Ajit Bharihoke issued notice to the CBI and sought the reply by September 27 on N S Hoon's plea, which also seeks action against the erring officials of the investigating agency for harassing him for such a long time.

Seeking a compensation of Rs 5,000 crore, Hoon, who had acquired British citizenship, said the then senior officers of the probe agency had acted against him at the instance of some influential persons and they should be prosecuted as per law.

Hoon claimed he has undergone mental agony and physical sufferings in the past 25 years and he should be financially compensated.

He said the trial court had acquitted him from all the charges under the Foreigners Act in January.

According to CBI, Hoon had concealed his identity as a British citizen during his stay in two different hotels, during 1986-1987, which constituted an offence under the act.

The CBI alleged during his stay in Delhi's Ambassador Hotel, the petitioner had paid the hotel tariff of Rs 400, which he should have paid in British pounds for being the citizen of the UK.

According to the prosecution,he had also stayed at Hakman's hotel in Jaipur and cleared the hotel bills to the tune of Rs 8,000 in Indian rupees which constituted an offence under the Foreigners Act.