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NEW DELHI: Union home minister P Chidambaram has said the magnet bomb attack in Delhi on Monday was an act of terrorism and that the Israeli diplomat's wife was the obvious target.
"We believe it was a very well trained person who committed the attack and the target was the Israeli diplomat's wife. The investigations are on," he said. The home minister, who did not want to hazard a guess on the group or individual responsible for the attack said: "We are not pointing fingers at anyone or any group yet, but we condemn the attack in the strongest terms."
Home secretary RK Singh, too said there was no material evidence yet to name any country. "Who planned and executed the blast will be known only after the investigation makes progress," he said. However, the modus operandi employed by the attacker - fixing bomb to a car - mirrored the method used by Mossad earlier to assassinate Iranian scientists.
Security experts here are of the view that the copy-cat attack may be a way of telling Israel that they have the capability to carry out similar attacks in distant locales. In New Delhi, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai were in constant touch with the Israeli authorities, who have shared crucial information on the possible suspects.
According to sources, experts from Mossad on Tuesday handed over a list of Iranian and Lebanese youths in India on student visas who may have planned the attack with the some local help. Sources in the MHA denied having received any prior intelligence from Tel Aviv on heightened threat to Israeli targets here.
Chidambaram's reference to a "well-trained" bomber is seen as confirming the intelligence agencies' fears that a commando may have been used to carry out the "surgical" strike. The bomber was familiar with all the approach roads and the quickest exit route, which agencies suspect was not possible without the help of local contacts.
The dry runs helped him not only to choose the traffic signal where he would attach the bomb to the car's rear, but also facilitate his quick escape to safety before the bomb could go off. The sticky bomb was used for the first time in India. The device did not have a battery or a circuit, indicating an in-built, quick timer mechanism similar to a grenade.
Most Iranian scientists engaged in its nuclear programme were killed in car bomb blasts triggered by similar magnetic devices. Iranians suspect these attacks were carried out by Israel or the US. The emergence of magnet bombs is seen as a worrying trend by Indian agencies, who fear that local terrorist modules may draft them to attack VIPs and high-value targets here.
MHA is already contemplating revisiting the security details of Y-category protectees, which include most Cabinet ministers, to include escort vehicles. As of now, only those with Z and Z-plus security cover move around accompanied by pilot and escort vehicles. MHA has, as part of post-blast security measures, told embassies not to allow vehicles to be parked outside their compound.
Also, the city traffic police have been asked to capture traffic crossings across all important points in the Capital on CCTVs. Though CCTV cameras deployed at the attack site have got some footage of the motor-cycle borne bomber, who appeared to be wearing a brown jacket, his red helmet hid his face.
Not only this, the cameras have not obtained a clear image of the motorcycle's number-plate either. The police believe that the bomber was trailing the diplomat's car for the last few days. Incidentally, sources told ET that a motorcycle had brushed the diplomat's car days before the blast.
Hopeful of getting some clues from electronic surveillance, agencies are now scanning phone records of made in the vicinity of the blast site, just before and after the attack. Police are also on the lookout for the motorcycle, which they suspect may have been abandoned by the bomber.
Chidambaram said that those injured in the car blasts were recovering. The Delhi Police commissioner told him on Tuesday that the condition of the injured Israeli woman was stable, while the other three injured had either been discharged or were about to be discharged from hospital.
