Blast at Israel mission in Delhi: Police say using facial recognition technology

Investigators are scrutinising footage from CCTV cameras around the site of the blast, and are preparing a list of suspects seen in the vicinity

The Delhi Police have recorded the statements of at least eight people in connection with the low-intensity blast that took place near the Israeli embassy on Tuesday evening, officers aware of the case said on Thursday.

Security and forensic officials near the Israeli embassy in the city on Wednesday. (PTI)

The officers said investigators are scrutinising footage from CCTV cameras installed around the site of the blast, and are preparing a list of suspects seen in the vicinity using facial recognition technology by matching their images with the available database of human faces.

“We have recorded the statements of almost all people who claimed to have heard the blast. They included security guards of nearby private bungalows and government buildings. We are currently preparing a list of suspects and are verifying their antecedents,” said a senior police officer associated with the probe, asking not to be named.

Investigators said the role of at least four people is under the scanner as their movement around the embassy and the blast site that was captured on CCTV footage seemed suspicious, but these four are yet to be identified.

Meanwhile, the police are yet to receive forensic reports of the exhibits collected from the site of the blast by Delhi’s forensic science laboratory (FSL) as well as by forensic experts from the National Security Guard (NSG) and National Investigation Agency (NIA), officers said.

According to the senior officer quoted above, the exhibits lifted from the site include soil, grass, leaves and some garbage items lying around.

“The experts of all three agencies would focus on ascertaining the nature of the blast and find out the explosive item or chemical that was used. The forensic examination reports of all three agencies will be examined to establish if there is any commonality in regard to the nature of the blast and explosive items used. Further legal action depends on their outcome,” the officer said.

Separately, an officer from an anti-terror unit roped in for assistance, on condition of anonymity, said that a few ball bearings and the broken dial of a watch were collected from the blast site by forensic experts.

“As no visible residue of any explosive or chemical was found at the blast site, it’s difficult to say whether the recovered items were related to the explosion or they were just part of the garbage lying nearby. Only the forensics will be able to find a correlation,” the officer of the anti-terror unit said.