Both the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami and the Indian Mujahideen have claimed responsibility for the Delhi high court blast. As investigations are on, insiders say that there is more possibility of the IM being behind the attack. Vicky Nanjappa analyses the strengths and weaknesses of both the outfits
A day after the deadly attack outside the Delhi High Court, investigators have traced the Harkat-ul -Jehadi Islami email claiming responsibility for the blast to Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
A Delhi Court on Friday convicted six Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) militants, including three Pakistanis, for plotting to kidnap cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in 2002.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday said there was strong possibility of Islamic extremists establishing "sleeper cells" in the state with the help of active members of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muviah).
The National Investigation Agency on Friday questioned Azhar Ali of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in connection with the Delhi high court blast case at Kotbalwal high security jail in Jammu.
After Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, National Inivestigation Agency probing the Delhi high court blast has turned its focus on banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror group and on Tursday questioned an alleged recruiter of the outfit at present lodged in a jail.
Sources said that there could be similarities between the explosives used in Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in May this year and Satudrday's explosion.
Asserting that Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami operational chief and Al Qeada commander Ilyas Kashmiri cannot dictate India, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said India is not deterred by his threats.
The parents of a youth, who has been detained for purportedly sending the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami email claiming responsibility for Wednesday's blast outside the Delhi high court, have claimed that their son is innocent and "not involved at all" in the incident.
The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested four suspected Harkat-ul -Jehadi Islami men in Lucknow and Faizabad in connection with the Delhi high court blast that killed 11 persons.
It is raising 'special militant groups' drawn from Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami, al-Badr and tribals of North West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
The police alleged that the two were involved in the serial blasts that left over a dozen people dead and nearly 50 other injured.
The Hyderabad city police has arrested Mohammed Abdul Majid, brother of city bomb blasts mastermind and Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami south India chief Shahid alias Bilal, and his childhood friend Mohammed Shakeel, on charges of criminal conspiracy.
The Hyderabad police are studying the pattern pertaining to the shootout that took place on Friday in which one police constable was killed. The pattern is very similar to what happened last year, and there could be more attacks of a similar nature in future, fear both the Hyderabad police and the Intelligence Bureau.
The prosecution on Friday told a Delhi court that a Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-jehadi Islami terrorist, who along with five others are accused of plotting to kidnap Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, had confessed that he came to abduct the cricketers and then bargain the release of two members of the outfit.
Though the state officials denied any possibility of a fidayeen attack, sources maintained that the suicide bombers were planning to target a particular VVIP, reported to be Chief Minister Mayawati.
Four militants each were shot dead in Poonch, Baramulla and Lolab, three in Kupwara and two in Udhampur, a defence spokesman said.
Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, a militant outfit based in Bangladesh, is suspected to be behind the blast at the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Mohiuddin Chisti at Ajmer. Shahid Bilal, based in Karachi, has emerged as a key suspect in the bomb attack that killed three persons and injured 28 others as the modus operandi was similar to that used in the Mecca Masjid blast at Hyderabad in May this year. The banned HuJI may have been supported by Jaish-e-Mohammed.
One of them was the deputy commander of Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami.
The militants were irked at not finding the father of the girls at home.
Investigators from the National Investigating Agency have found that the bombs used in the August 25, 2007 Hyderabad blasts that killed 42 people, were prepared in the heart of Mangalore city, and the finances came from a dedicated network in Saudi Arabia. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Security agencies have detained Hafiz Aamir, a suspected Harkat ul Jehadi al Islami operative, for allegedly sending a terror email in the aftermath of the blast outside the Delhi high court on September 7. Aamir is understood to have told the investigators that an email claiming responsibility on behalf of the HuJI was sent on his directions, sources said on Thursday. Aamir, who has been detained in Kashmir's Kishtwar district, is alleged to be an operative of the HuJI.
Mohammed Ashraf alias Mohammed Shakeel, Mohammed Amran and Abdul Majid also wanted to abduct Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.