Delhi sticky bomb plot hatched in 2011

The conspiracy to bomb the Israeli diplomat's car in New Delhi was hatched in early 2011 when two Iranian nationals came to India to conduct recce of the embassy besides monitoring the entry and exit timing of diplomats, official sources said in New Delhi on Thursday.

The two -- Syed Ali Mehdi Sadr and Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi -- had been allegedly accompanying arrested journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmed Kazmi in their reconnaissance mission of the Israeli Embassy before they left India for Tehran to finalise the plan and prepare an executer of the operation, they said.

Housan Afshar is alleged to be the person who stuck the bomb to the car of Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua on February 13 in which she was critically injured. Four others suffered minor injuries.

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Afshar arrived in India in the last week of January and stayed in a hotel in Karol Bagh in central Delhi, they said and claimed that he had meetings with Kazmi as well and also visited his residence in B K Dutt colony in South Delhi.

The motorcycle used for the blast had been recovered and belonged to a hotel staffer where Afshar was staying during his stay in India. He had been using his motorcycle earlier too before the incident and the staffer obliged him without knowing the nefarious designs of the bomber.

After sticking the bomb to the Israeli diplomat's car, Afshar boarded a flight to Kuala Lumpur the same evening on his way to Tehran.

Delhi Police on Wednesday night secured a non-bailable warrant against the three Iranian nationals in the case from Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav's court and will approach the Interpol soon for issuance of an Interpol Red Corner notice against them.

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As far as the role of Kazmi is concerned, the sources alleged that he was in the know of the conspiracy and was aware that his scooty, recovered from his residence, was being used for reconnaissance of Israeli embassy.

There was a foreign remittance of Rs 20 lakh in the account of Kazmi's wife over a period of time, the sources alleged, adding that last year, he visited Tehran twice where he is alleged to have been part of the conspiracy.

His family and other religious leaders have denied Kazmi's role in the case and said that he was being targeted by the probe agencies.

On March 7, while seeking 20 days' police custody for Kazmi, public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan stated in the court that it was a case of "international terrorism. It is not necessary that only Indians are involved in this case. There is a possibility that some foreign nationals might be involved in the case. We have already recorded statements of the eyewitnesses to the incident.

"The conspiracy was hatched outside India. We do not want to disclose all information in the open court as the main accused, who is yet to be arrested, could go out of reach of the probe agency," the prosecutor had stated.

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