Audacious terrorists sent SMS to Delhi cop minutes before blasts

NEW DELHI: The jihadis, who struck Delhi on Saturday evening, displayed chilling audacity by sending an SMS to a senior Delhi Police official warning about the attack just five minutes before bombs went off in Karol Bagh. The text message, a senior official in the MHA said, taunted the security machinery to protect the city from serial attack.

The message was also sent to police chiefs of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Sources in the police said the message helped in conducting searches in several parts of South Delhi, a target of the terrorists. The police also defused four Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted in the New Delhi district.

The investigations into the attack is centred around the role of Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer Bilal and Abu Bashir. The two Simi activists were in Delhi when jihadis belonging to their module attacked Ahmedabad. Investigators say that around seven to eight people were part of the terror module that targeted the Capital. The autorickshaw driver, who ferried two suspected Simi men from Paharganj to Karol Bagh on Saturday evening, is learnt to have provided important information to the investigators. Forensic experts have found that light emitting diodes were used to complete the circuit of IEDs planted in Delhi. By using a mixture of gun powder, ammonium nitrate, diesel, kerosene and ball bearings, the terrorists managed to cause maximum damage. The same method was used in the attacks on Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

A team of policemen is expected to visit Gujarat to interrogate to Abu Bashir. The Simi activist from Uttar Pradesh���s Azamgarh is a key associate of Safdar Nagori, the top Simi functionary. Delhi Police, sources said, has detained six suspects. Of these, two people were picked from the walled city, while two others from the Okhla area. The suspects, believed to have links with Simi, were being questioned by joint teams of central security agencies and Delhi Police.
Meanwhile, government officials said security had been beefed up in busy markets, cinema halls, hospitals and Delhi Metro stations. An alert has also been sounded across the country.

Union home minister Shivraj Patil chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday morning to review security. The meeting was attended by top officials, including Cabinet secretary Chandrashekhar, home secretary Madhukar Gupta, Intelligence Bureau director Haldar, Delhi Police commissioner Y S Dadwal.