A day after two Taiwanese nationals were injured after two motorcycle-borne attackers fired at a tourist bus outside the historic Jama Masjid, the government today didn’t rule out the possibility of a terror attack and called the incident a “wake-up call before the Commonwealth Games”.
Government sources said there was a possibility that the shooting incident and a car blast which took place in the vicinity of the Jama Masjid were linked and were part of a coordinated attack.
“The firing incident and the car explosion could be linked. If the two incidents are not linked, then it was too close a coincidence,” said a government official.
Senior officials of Delhi Police have confirmed that ammonium nitrate was used in the explosion that was carried out in a car soon after two suspected terrorists fired several rounds at the foreign tourists outside Gate number 3 of the 16th century mosque in the ‘walled city’.
“RDX was not used for explosion in the car; we suspect ammonium nitrate was used in the incident. We are not ruling out anything for now and are investigating all angles in the case. We have found some inflammable items in the car and it has been sent for forensic examination,” said a senior police official.
Although investigators claim they have found some leads in the case and would soon be able to nab the two assailants, the only suspected person, a resident of the Vasant Kunj area, who was detained for questioning by the cops after the shooting incident, was allowed to walk free today morning.
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Senior officials in the government said they had not received any specific terror threat to the Commonwealth Games, which kick off on October 3. Within hours of the suspected terror strike in Delhi yesterday, the outlawed Indian Mujahideen had issued an email to several media organisations threatening to disrupt the upcoming Commonwealth Games. The email has been traced to a server in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the Central Industrial Security Force, which guards all vital installations in the national capital, has issued “shoot to neutralise” orders to its commandos who are guarding these premises.
“Our principle is to deter, detect, delay and neutralise. The orders have been issued to our personnel,” said a senior CISF official.