Police: No terror angle in Jama Masjid incidents-19/09/2010

19/09/2010

Police: No terror angle in Jama Masjid incidents

(ONE NEED TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS,ALERT,VIGILANT AS FESTIVE DAYS AND COMMONWEALTH GAMES ARE AHEAD,OTHER THEN AYODHYA DECISION AND KASMIR SOLUTION FINDING PROCESS)

New Delhi: The Delhi Police does not suspect the role of any organised terror group behind today's shooting incident near the historic Jama Masjid and the explosion of a pressure cooker bomb inside a car in the same area in a span of two hours. Investigators suspect that disgruntled youths or a gang of local criminals could be behind the incidents.



Onlookers take photos of a bus suspected to have been attacked by gunmen near Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi. Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot two tourists near Jama Masjid.

The motive appears to be to scare people ahead of the Commonwealth Games, they say, adding the attacks do not show signs of the involvement of terrorist outfits like Indian Mujahideen. The city police is also not giving much credence to the email sent to media houses purportedly by outlawed Indian Mujahideen as "its content and timing were not matching" with the incidents.

There were "no specific target or specific reasons" for the attacks and they do not find any reason to believe that an organised terror outfit was behind the incidents which left two Taiwanese nationals injured, Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.

Two men had opened random fire outside the Jama Masjid Gate No 3 injuring the Taiwanese nationals at around 11:10 am while two hours later a Maruti car went up in flames after a "poorly circuited and crudely assembled" pressure cooker bomb exploded.



Indian police officers check bags of commuters in New Delhi.

"The signatures of the attacks do not show that an organised terror organisation like Indian Mujahideen is involved. If you see pressure cooker which was used to explode the car, it was poorly circuited and crudely assembled," a senior police official said.

He also said there was no reason to target Taiwanese as they were not in news for any wrong reasons. "If it was done by some terrorists, it would have targeted the police station or the Masjid itself. We feel that it is a handiwork of disgruntled youths of the area or local criminal gang," the official said.

Police have detained some local criminals of the area and are questioning them. Investigators are also collecting details from Salim, a rickshaw puller, who claimed to have witnessed the firing and gave a chase to the attackers along with Constable Pramod who is posted at Jama Masjid.



Firing incident: Home Ministry keeping watch on situation

New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry is closely monitoring the investigations into the shooting incident near the Jama Masjid in New Delhi on Sunday and has sought a report from the Delhi Police. Senior Home Ministry officials said they are keeping a close watch on the developments in the wake of the firing incident, which comes just days ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

Two Taiwanese were injured in an incident of firing near the Jama Masjid in the walled city area. Asked if the security agencies have been able to find out the motive behind the incident, officials said it was too early to make an assessment and that the investigations were underway. Delhi has been put on a high alert after the shooting incident.



Sheila Dikshit: Incident worrisome but don't panic

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday termed the firing on foreign tourists outside Jama Masjid here as a "very sad and worrying" incident but asserted that there was no need to panic. "This has been a very, very sad incident...People should not panic. I am in constant touch with the Police Commissioner. The police are investigating the incident and culprits will be caught. Everything is under control," Dikshit said.



Police officers stand guard at the site of firing near Jama Masjid, background, in New Delhi. Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot two tourists Sunday near one of India's biggest mosques, police said.

She said she was sure that after the incident police will "now step up the security measures and will be more vigilant." Asked whether she was distressed at such an incident ahead of the Commonwealth Games, she replied in the affirmative. "It is distressing as something unexpected has happened," the Chief Minister said, adding the good part was that no life has been lost.



Indian police officers patrol near Jama Masjid in New Delhi after two gunmen on a motorcycle shot two tourists near Jama Masjid. The shooting raises concerns about security in New Delhi as the Indian capital gears up to host the Commonwealth Games scheduled for Oct. 3-14.

To a question on whether the incident could be dubbed as a security scare ahead of the October 3-14 Games, Dikshit said, "This has been a very sad incident...an incident like this is something worrying but nothing to panic about."

She said it will be incorrect to presume that the two particular individuals were targeted as the attackers fired on the tourist bus. "Lots of security measures have already been taken. But wherever there is an inadequacy about it, that hole has to be plugged," the Chief Minister said.



Indian police officers stand guard outside Jama Masjid mosque.

'Shootout could be an attempt to spread scare'

New Delhi: The incident in which two bikers fired at a tourist vehicle near the Jama Masjid here could be an attempt to spread scare just ahead of the Commonwealth Games, official sources said on Sunday. The sources said all angles were being probed and any terror angle in the incident cannot be ruled out as yet.

They also said the firing could be an attempt to spread scare just ahead of the sporting extravaganza when a large number of tourists and foreign players are expected to visit the national capital. Firing at the tourists without any specific reason points to the scare angle, they said.



Indian police officers stand guard outside Jama Masjid mosque, background. Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot two tourists Sunday near Jama Masjid.

The city has been put on a high alert after the shooting incident which comes just two weeks before the Games. The Union Home Ministry, which is closely monitoring the situation, has sought a report from the Delhi Police.

Sources said the police are in the process of creating a sketch based on eyewitness accounts. Though some eyewitnesses had said the two shooters who came on the bike were wearing T-shirts, some say they were wearing raincoats.

Meanwhile, a high-level meeting on the security related matters for the Games is slated to be held on Tuesday. Over one lakh security personnel would be deployed during the Games to be held from October 3-14.

Source: Agencies