The Union home ministry on Tuesday handed over the probe into the blast near Israel embassy in Delhi to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The premier investigating agency will look into the Iran angle, people aware of the development said.
“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, although investigators are still looking for the people who actually planted the bomb. A minor IED blast took place near the Israeli Embassy in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi on January 29 evening. No one was injured. Some cars were damaged in the explosion that occurred about 150 metres away from the embassy on the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Road in the very high-security Lutyens’ bungalow zone.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on February 1 to convey his strong condemnation of the terror attack and asserted that India will deploy all its resources to find and punish the perpetrators. Both leaders, the PMO said, expressed satisfaction about the close coordination between Indian and Israeli security agencies in connection with the blast probe.
