Nationwide alert as NIA takes up probe

Twenty-member team on the job; HuJI claim being probed

New Delhi : National Investigation Agency (NIA) team investigating the blast site at the High Court in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI Photo by Subhav Shukla(PTI9_7_2011_000197A)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into Wednesday's blast in the Delhi High Court complex.

“We are seriously looking into the claim of the HuJI [Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami] that it is responsible for the blast. The HuJI is a prominent terror group, which considers India target number one,” NIA Director-General S.C. Sinha told journalists.

The NIA has formed a 20-member team to investigate the blast. A notification was issued by the Home Ministry under the NIA Act, handing over the probe to the agency.

This is the first case handed over directly to the NIA, which was set up in the aftermath of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The Delhi Police and the Delhi government were asked by the Ministry to associate themselves with the NIA in the probe.

The NIA chief said a special team, with Deputy Inspector-General Mukesh Kumar as its head and Superintendent of Police Nitish Kumar as the Chief Investigating Officer, had been set up. There were no clear leads as of now but the investigators were working on several theories.

Special Secretary (Internal Security) U.K. Bansal told journalists that preliminary investigations pointed to the use of Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) in the blast. “This is subject to confirmation by forensic agencies,” he said. Asked about the HuJI's claim, Mr. Bansal said it was “being examined.”