On Tuesday (December 26), a low-intensity explosion was reported near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, following which teams of the district staff, Special Cell, and the Delhi Fire Services were rushed to the spot. The incident refreshed memories of a similar blast that occurred in the vicinity of the embassy a few years ago. On January 29, 2021, a crude bomb went off just around 100 meters near the Embassy of Israel on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road, New Delhi, on a day when India and Israel marked the 29th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. No one was injured in the explosion but the probe into the blast, which occurred while the Beating the Retreat ceremony was underway at the erstwhile Rajpath, was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by Delhi Police within days of the incident. However, the agency has not been able to identify and trace the two suspects. Here is what the investigation has found so far. What has the NIA found in the 2021 Israel Embassy blast case? After scanning over 500 CCTV cameras installed in the New Delhi district and its adjoining areas, the NIA found footage showing two masked men, including one wearing a jacket and carrying a bag, walking on the pavement a few minutes before the blast. They then traced the autorickshaw driver, who told them that he dropped the two men at Jamia Nagar. But, they did not find any CCTV cameras where the suspects got down from the auto. The NIA later issued their posters and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh each for their identification. What was the possible motivation here? Initial probe conducted by the Central agencies hinted at an “Iranian link” and it was later learnt that a bomb had been planted near the Israeli embassy in Paris as well. After the explosion, Delhi Police also found a letter in an envelope addressed "to Israel embassy ambassador" at the blast spot. The letter contained a threat, described the explosion as a trailer, and claimed the attack was to avenge the killings of "Iranian martyrs Qasem Soleimani and Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh". Soleimani was a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a branch of the Iranian armed forces. He was killed on January 3, 2020, in a US drone strike shortly after he landed in Baghdad, Iraq. Dr Fakhrizadeh, Iran's senior-most nuclear scientist, was assassinated in Iran on November 27 of that year through an AI-assisted machine gun that was under the control of Mossad – Israel's national intelligence agency. What are the findings of forensic examination? Forensic experts have informed that the explosive used in the blast was Pentaerythritol tetranitrate or PETN, a military-grade explosive which is not easily available. The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was packed with ball bearings in a can and dropped in a flowerpot across the road from the Israeli embassy. What happened to the four detained Kargil students? After the case was transferred to the NIA, the Delhi Police Special Cell registered a case of “criminal conspiracy”. The New Delhi Range of Special Cell had arrested four students from Kargil, in a joint operation with a central agency, after they got information claiming that the group was behind the explosion. The investigation team found that the four people arrested were posting several messages on social media and their phones were switched off on the day of the incident. However, the students were released by a Delhi court after the police failed to show any concrete evidence against them. The NIA also examined the four students but did not find anything suspicious.
