2 Pak Bombers Carried Out Hc Blast

[Jambhalheart]

NEW DELHI: The September 7 Delhi high court terror attack was carried out by two Pakistanis from Lahore, according to Wasim Akram Malik, who masterminded the operation to save Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru from being sent to gallows.

Sources said Wasim has identified the two HC bombers as Saifullah and Bilal, both Lahore residents. Wasim has told interrogators that the duo is 25-30 years old. Although he has feigned ignorance about the affiliations of the two bombers with terror groups, the NIA team and the J&K Police handling the case suspect that the two could be linked with either Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The details provided by Wasim are seen as a breakthrough for investigators and a success for counter-terror agencies after a barren spell when the probe into a number of terror cases that started with Pune's Germany Bakery blast came a cropper. The case was seen as a challenge for the NIA. Authorities are also full of praise for the role played by the J&K Police in cracking the case.

Wasim, who has 'confessed' to having masterminded the crime to deter authorities from executing Guru, told the interrogators that he had reckoned that attack on the HC would force the authorities to put on hold the hanging of the Parliament attack convict.

A direct threat to the Supreme Court was issued for the same objective, Wasim, a medical student in Bangladesh, told the investigators.

Sources said, the chief conspirator was encouraged by the lax security arrangements at the HC. Wasim's younger brother Junaid, allegedly a Hizbul Mujahideen member and a co-accused in the case, had conducted a reconnaissance visit on the court premises in June-end when he had come home for vacation. He noticed the absence of police pickets around the complex, investigators said.