The day after two Taiwanese tourists were injured when unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets near Delhi's Jama Masjid, the police are trying to trace the connection of the Indian Mujahideen to the attack.
The terror outfit has claimed responsibility in an e-mail sent right after the incident.
Security agencies and the Intelligence Bureau say that the language used in the e-mail is different from the earlier mails sent by the IM after the Delhi and Ahmedabad blasts.
Sources in the IB told rediff.com that the mail has been sent out by a splinter group operating in the Old Delhi area. Following the crackdown on the IM across India, the group has broken down into sub groups that have been operating individually.
According to IB sources, the men who carried out the attack had been members of the IM, and were probably trained in using weapons. But they believe that the attack was carried out by a splinter group.
"The IM has the capability of carrying out a very sophisticated attack. This attack was carried out in a hurry. When they had the chance of inflicting maximum damage, they somehow faltered during the operation. This means that the operation was not carried out under the direct supervision of the IM and the planning of the attack was not precise," said the source.
"This particular splinter group has tried its best to ape the IM style of attack by sending out a mail immediately after the incident. This email also has a warning about a future attack," added the source.
Intelligence agencies and the Delhi police are now probing the various splinter groups operating in and around Delhi. They believe that the IM alone has at least six splinter groups, with five or six individuals working in each group who are capable of carrying out crude attacks. They have access to a lot of weapons which have been left behind by the cadres of the IM before they were arrested, say sources.
Members of these splinter groups have been trained by IM leaders, but they may not be as well organised or precise during attacks, say sources.
The attack on Delhi was carried out in a hurry and it was a desperate bid to make their presence felt before the Commonwealth Games, they say.
The intelligence agencies are not trying to trace the origins of the mail and have already requested the email service provider to provide them the requisite information. Initial leads suggest that the mail was sent out from a cyber cafe and written well in advance, as it contained references to several burning issues, including the Batla House encounter.
