NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – A powerful bomb placed in a briefcase outside the High Court in New Delhi killed at least 10 people and wounded 61 today in an attack authorities said was claimed by a South Asian militant group linked to al Qaeda.
The bomb dug a crater three to four feet deep near the main reception counter where passes are issued for lawyers and visitors to enter the sprawling sandstone building before the main security checkpoint.
Authorities said the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HUJI) militant group — an al Qaeda affiliate with bases in Pakistan and Bangladesh — had sent an email claiming responsibility. Ilyas Kashmiri, who U.S. authorities believe was recently killed in Pakistan, was the head of HUJI and a senior al Qaeda member.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is on an official visit to Bangladesh, the first visit by an Indian primier in 12 years.
In an email to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the group called on India to repeal the death sentence of a man convicted in connection with an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 and warned it would otherwise target major courts in the country.
“That mail has to be looked at very seriously because HUJI is a very prominent terrorist group among whose targets India is one,” NIA chief S.C. Sinha told reporters.
The blast comes as security has been stepped up at key locations as parliament is in session and ahead of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. It also comes less than two months after near-simultaneous triple bomb attacks in India’s financial hub Mumbai killed 24. No one has claimed responsibility for those attacks.
“I was near the gate at that time,” said lawyer K.K. Gautam of Wednesday’s attack. “There was an orderly queue when a loud blast occurred. I saw many injured and dead. I saw 20-25 injured and around 10 dead.”
The court building compound is in a leafy, usually tranquil and upscale part of the city. The outside gate is usually manned by a handful of policemen armed with automatic rifles and hand-held scanners.
Lawyers in black suits and starched white collars stood around shocked on one of the busiest days of the week when the court hears public interest petitions.
About 120 soldiers, police and bomb squad specialists were at the scene, with ambulances whisking the injured away to hospitals.
Television images showed scores of lawyers running from one of the main gates of the building just after the explosion amid rubble and chaotic scenes. Police cordoned off the area, not far from parliament and the prime minister’s office.