Two weeks on, no leads in Delhi car blast case

Almost two weeks after four people including an Israeli diplomat were injured in a car blast in Delhi, the probe into the terror attack seems to have hit a dead end.

Intelligence officials in Israel, who had immediately blamed Iran for the attack, and the United States have shared information about the attack with their Indian counterparts.

Though the Central Intelligence Agency has reportedly shared information about an Iranian link, Indian investigators have not been able to confirm it till now.

"The details are still very sketchy. We do not want to jump the gun and come to any conclusion. The case is political in nature and any wrong information or action could affect international ties," said an official of the Delhi police.

What exactly have the investigating agencies found so far?

They have looked into some calls made from Bangladesh's Cox Bazaar to a person in New Delhi a couple of days before and on the day of the blast. But the police found no connection between those calls and the blast. They didn't have sufficient evidence to nail anyone in connection to the phone calls.

The police also seized several red bikes and rounded up their owners, as the bomb is believed to have been planted by men riding a similar bike. But after questioning the owners of these bikes, the police have realised that this lead was not going anywhere.

Now, based on the account of the injured victims, the police are looking into the possibility of the bomb being planted by a cyclist.

Some Iranian nationals were also detained from Delhi's Kalina area and questioned thoroughly by the police, but to no avail. The police have tried to get access to clues about similar blasts in Bangkok and Georgia. But they are also not ruling out the possibility that these purportedly similar blasts were either coincidental or stage managed.

Indian agencies have been accused of treading overcautiously as this case has the potential to hit India's cordial ties with Iran. They will not jump to any conclusions in this regard, despite the accusations by Israel, and will pursue the probe independently.

According to the forensic report of the case, a magnet was definitely used to carry out the attack, most probably to stick the bomb on to the vehicle. Though similar bombs were used in strikes in Middle East, investigators point out that it is not difficult to assemble such an explosive device.

"We are leaving all options open and would like to bring out the truth rather than jumping to any conclusion," said one of them.