Israel embassy car blast: Complex probe ahead

Parikshit Luhtra & Arunima CNN-IBN | 14-Feb 21:54 PM

New Delhi: The investigators say the attack on the wife of an Israeli embassy official was a well planned and sophisticated operation carried out by a highly trained bomber. The explosive used was a stick-on palm sized bomb, with a self triggering mechanism, never used in India before.

Addressing mediapersons after a key meeting, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "It looks like the man was well trained and the wife of the Israeli diplomat was the target."

Meanwhile, sources have told CNN-IBN that the location of attack was carefully chosen as there were no CCTVs on that stretch.

They further said that the explosion occurred seconds after the magnetic base bomb was stuck on the car, suggesting a highly confident bomber.

The bomber knew exactly who his target was and might have even recced the area.

Police believe there was a high possibility of the attack being overseen by a foreign terror network carried out with local support, mainly because such a stick-on magnetic bomb has never been used in India.

Sources said the explosive was a palm sized device, with a self triggering mechanism, possibly made of sulphur compounds which caused the fire. No traces of RDX have been found yet.

Police have collected CCTV footage from areas around the blast site and are hunting for the red motorbike used in the attack.

"We are examining CCTV footage and are looking for a motorcycle," said Dharmendra Kumar, Special Commissioner of Police, Law and Order.

Questioning of other victims of the blast is likely to provide key leads as well. Manjeet Singh, a Supreme Court lawyer was in his Indica right behind the embassy Innova when the explosion took place.

Immediately after the incident, the Israeli government had pointed fingers at Iran and the Hezbollah. Therefore, the police are closely looking at the aspect.

There are scanning records of Iranian tourists who have been coming to the country and also those who permanently reside here. But surely it is a complex investigation and security agencies will take time to make some headway.

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