No clues from CCTVs outside Israel embassy

A crude bomb went off near the Embassy of Israel on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road on Friday evening, shattering windscreens of three cars on the road. No one was injured in the explosion, which took place on the 29th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Israel.

On Saturday, a team from the National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC) of the NSG visited the spot for post-blast analysis.

The findings will be shared with the Delhi Police team investigating the case in the days ahead.

The bomb appeared to have been planted in a flower pot on the road divider, police said. A letter in a white envelope addressed “to Israel Embassy ambassador” was found at the spot, police sources said. The letter contained a threat, and describes the explosion as a “trailer”, the sources said. It also refers to two “Iranian martyrs”, Qasem Soleimani and Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, sources said, adding that “there are spelling errors in the message”.

Maj Gen Soleimani, who was assassinated in a United States drone strike in January 2020, was Iran’s most powerful general, the commander of the Quds Force of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated in November last year, was Iran’s top nuclear scientist. Tehran believes he was killed by Israel using a remote-control weapon.

The investigation team is also ascertaining claims made by Jaish-Ul-Hind over their involvement in the blast. It is coordinating with the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and checking details of Iranians who recently came to India.

“Police also procured dump data — mass collection of mobile phone data of all nearby spots of the crime scene — to get leads,” a source said.

On Friday, a cab driver had made a call about two suspicious Iranians but police later found that he was in an inebriated condition.