’We don’t want any more blame’

Police sources say officials have decided not to take any direct action in the blast case; will only give inputs to NIA

'We don't want any more blame'

Police sources say officials have decided not to take any direct action in the blast case; will only give inputs to NIA

Once bitten, twice shy. That seems to be the state of Delhi Police. Cops in the city appear to be in no mood to aggressively pursue the High Court blast case or the suspects. It's a lesson they have learnt from the Batla House encounter case of 2008 and the following criticism. So police officials in the city have decided to pass on any information they receive pertaining to the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Heroes or villains? Media personnel surround the policemen at Batla
House

Anti-climax
"We were pulled up for the Batla House operation. It came as a shock for us. So, Delhi police will only give inputs to NIA on the blast case. It is up to the NIA team to take further action," said a top brass official, wishing anonymity. The official went on to say that the morale of the department has been hit badly and now cops are not even thinking on the lines of any encounters.

National Investigation Agency officials collect evidence from a tree top
near High Court in New Delhi. File pics

"We gave the terrorists a stern lesson in connection with the Delhi serial blasts in 2008. Our top officials launched a ferocious counter-attack and cracked the case. We arrested the suspected terrorists. We lost a brave officer, Mohan Chand Sharma, in the operation. But, in return for our bravery, we were slammed and it was claimed that the encounter was a fake one. This has broken our spirit," the official added.u00a0
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Arrests
Meanwhile, two persons were arrested from Kishtwar on Wednesday and charged with criminal conspiracy in connection with the terror mail traced to Jammu and Kashmir owning responsibility for the Delhi High Court blast. These are the first arrests in the email episode. Abid and Sharik have been booked under Section 120(B) of the IPC (criminal conspiracy) after they were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Jammu and Kashmir police. The two were accused of sending the terror email about an hour after the briefcase blast outside the High Court last Wednesday that killed 13 persons.

Child's play, literally
Also, the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police yesterday arrested a 14-year-old student for allegedly sending 'mischievous' emails to media houses claiming responsibility for the blasts.The student, Sunny Shukla of Pakur in Jharkhand, sent two mails posing as a member of the Indian Mujahideen, Additional Commissioner of Police (STF), Rajiv Kumar said."After interrogating him we are sure that the emails were sent mischievously and he has no connection with terror groups and is not responsible for the Delhi High Court blast," Kumar said.

Shukla sent the second and the fourth mail of the four emails received pertaining to the terror attack, from the id chotoominani5@gmail.com through a Blackberry mobile using a SIM card of the Kolkata circle, claiming that the IM and not Huji was responsible for the blasts.u00a0

Mum's the word
Home Secretary RK Singh on Wednesday clarified that clues on the blast outside the Delhi High Court that claimed 13 lives and wounded over 70, would not be made public. He told mediapersons that revealing evidence to the public would impede the probe. "We have certain clues and there has been progress in the investigations. However, we do not want to reveal the clues and our progress to the public, as we believe that it will hamper our progress," he said.