Centre transfers probe to NIA

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday handed over the investigation in the last week’s blast near the Israeli embassy in Delhi to the National Investigation Agency in view of suspected involvement of Iran and the international ramifications of the case, people familiar with the matter said.

A low-intensity blast was reported outside the Israeli embassy in the VVIP zone at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Marg, around the time when security in Lutyens’ Delhi was on the highest alert due to the Beating Retreat ceremony at Rajpath. The blast came on the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Israel on January 29, 1992.

People familiar with the development said the central anti-terror probe agency will form a special team to probe the case. NIA sleuths will also coordinate with Israeli agencies, including Mossad to get inputs on the outfit behind the attack, which has been termed as a terrorist act. The agency has registered a case and is getting documents from Delhi Police Special Cell.

“Initial assessment has pointed out to the role of Iranian suspects, which will be the focus of our investigation among other angles,” said a senior NIA officer, requesting anonymity.

A home ministry official said, “The case file and evidence gathered by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell so far including the sample of the explosives used, CCTV footage and a letter recovered from the blast site will be handed over to the central agency.”

Over the last few days, the Delhi Police and investigators from the NIA, who were informally associated with the probe till now, have collected information about certain social media channels, including a Telegram entity which had claimed responsibility for the blast on behalf of a group called ‘Jaish ul Hind’, an investigator said.

Experts are also trying to locate the people who placed the bomb and a letter near the pavement, few metres away from the Israeli embassy. The letter swore revenge for the killing of Iran Quds Commander Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mehdhi Al Muhandis, who were killed in a US drone attack in January 2020, and Iranian nuclear physicist Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who died in a car bomb attack in Iran in November 2020.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday assured his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu of punishing the perpetrators of the blast.