Police commandos carried out raids across New Delhi, detaining several people believed to be connected to a series of blasts that ripped through the Indian capital, killing at least 21 people and wounding about 100, police said yesterday.
A series of at least five explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in New Delhi just after sundown on Saturday, a prime time for weekend shoppers in the crowded, chaotic city.
An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the bombings in an e-mail sent to several Indian news organizations.
By yesterday the death toll had risen to 21, city police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. At least 97 were wounded, he said.
Media reports said 10 people had been detained in the overnight raids. Bhagat confirmed only that “several” people had been held.
He gave no further details on the suspects’ identities or where they had been captured.
“We have collected vital clues and we hope to crack the case soon,” Bhagat said.
But his optimism stood in stark contrast to India’s record in solving other bombings that have hit the country in recent months.
Police have made little headway in finding those behind a series of bombings in the western city of Jaipur in May that killed 61 people or July blasts in the western state of Gujarat that killed at least 45. After the May and July attacks, police carried out a series of raids and arrested several people but no charges have been filed.
The Indian Mujahidin, a previously unknown group, claimed responsibility for both of those attacks, as well as for Saturday’s blasts.
As in the previous attacks, the group sent a number of Indian media outlets an e-mail message just before the blasts on Saturday evening warning that India was about to receive “the Message of Death.”
“In the name of Allah, Indian Mujahidin strikes back once more ... Do whatever you can. Stop us if you can,” the message said.
It was not clear if the Indian Majahidin is tied to Kashmiri groups.
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