Now, cops don’t rule out terror angle in Jama Masjid attack

A day after two motorcycle-borne gunmen fired indiscriminately at a Taiwanese filmmaking crew outside the Jama Masjid, injuring two of them, Delhi Police said it could have been a terror attack after all. On Sunday, they had ruled out any such possibility. Vijaita Singh reports.

A day after two motorcycle-borne gunmen fired indiscriminately at a Taiwanese filmmaking crew outside the Jama Masjid, injuring two of them, Delhi Police said it could have been a terror attack after all. On Sunday, they had ruled out any such possibility.

Two suspects currently held by the Delhi Police Special Cell have reportedly confessed their involvement. One of them has a criminal background.

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"The attack seems to be the handiwork of new criminals hired by an external agency. It could be a terror attack also. The car that went off in flames some hours after the attack had traces of ammonium nitrate suggesting the presence of a crude bomb. It was parked next to a transformer to maximise the impact,” said a police officer.

"We are confident of cracking the case,” said YS Dadwal, commissioner of police. The email that was sent two hours after the attack by homegrown terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) claiming responsibility has been traced to Mumbai.

The email id, al.arbi999123@gmail.com, police have found, was created minutes after the attack and sent using a mobile phone. Both the SIM card and the phone were bought using a fake address and name, police said.

"The men were apparently given money to open fire on any group of foreigners they saw. We have not found many eyewitnesses except a policeman, a tour operator and a rickshaw-puller who gave them a chase. Not many people saw them,” said a senior police officer.