Delhi blast: Probe follows likely script

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The investigation into the blast at the Delhi high court last week has followed a predictable script so far.

Apart from “little breakthroughs’’ on the chemical composition of the improvised explosive device (IED) used and emails received after the blast, no real opening has emerged. Ergo, there is no concrete lead to follow.

The National Investigation Agency, entrusted with the job of investigating the blast, is working on several trails.

One set of investigators is looking into the involvement of the remnants of the home-grown terror
outfit Indian Mujahideen that was almost decimated in 2008. A few high-ranking IM operatives are still on the run. Investigators believe they have the motivation and the resources, with help of state and non-state actors in Pakistan, to carry out an operation like the one at the Delhi high court.

Another line being pursued concerns the possible emergence of a new module with no past affiliations with IM, which may enable it to work under the police radar. In this regard, a few youth with presumed motivation and jehadi leanings in western Uttar Pradesh and the Mewat area of Haryana have come under the scanner. This line of investigation is in its infancy.

The receipt of email from a cyber café in Kishtwar in J&K has brought the active Valley militants into reckoning. Kashmir Valley militants have often slipped into the great Indian hinterland to carry out deadly strikes, such as the Parliament attack in 2001, and the Diwali eve blasts in Delhi in 2005.

Since around half a dozen cases, including the Jama Masjid firing incident of 2010, Varanasi
blast of December 2010, May 25 failed bombing attempt at the Delhi high court and also this year’s
July 13 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, remain unsolved since 26/11, sources believe it is not likely that the NIA can crack the Delhi high court blast case any time soon.

According to NIA sources, the challenge is two-fold.

One, they need to solve the case. Two, the unravelling of the mystery has to be credible, and should
stand the test of time. This is necessary as we have cases that were solved quickly, such as the
Malegaon blast in 2006 and the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts, but have had doubts raised about them.