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Bomb Blast Rocks Indian Capital, 11 Dead 65 Injured

By Adil Akhzer  

New Delhi: At least 11 people were killed and 65 others injured in an explosion outside New Delhi's High Court Gate number 5 at 10:15AM in the Indian capital.

Reports said the explosive device was suspected to be in a briefcase left outside the High Court compound between Gate No. 4 and 5 and was detonated at around 10:15AM when 100 to 200 litigants were waiting to get passes to enter the premises. Some lawmakers were also present at the time.

The blast took place in a high security area where Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office and India Gate were in the vicinity. All the metros have been put on high alert.

After the bomb blast, panic-stricken people ran helter-skelter as it was chaos at the High Court premises.

Eyewitnesses told a NewsBlaze reporter that many people were injured in the explosion, which occurred at around 10:15AM and some of them are in a critical condition. Delhi Special Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar confirmed that over 65 people have been injured.

Internal security secretary said that the investigations are on going.

There were no CCTV cameras installed at the gate near the blast spot while the scanners, too, were not working.

The injured were taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital with some of them reportedly in a critical condition.

National Security Guard (NSG) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams have also reached the blast site. NSG Director General Rajen Medhekar said that ammonium nitrate was used as the explosive compound in the blast.

"Whatever we could gather from the blast investigations is that it is an IED (improvised explosive device) with ammonium nitrate. We are working with the Delhi Police to get details," said Medhekar.

Meanwhile, the government is investigating an email allegedly sent by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI) claiming responsibility for the blast at the Delhi high court that killed at least 10 people and injured 65 others on Wednesday, a senior security official said.

HuJI, in an email sent to the media, wrote, "We own the responsibility for today's blasts at Delhi high court. Our demand is that Mohammed Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately or else we will target major high courts and the Supreme Court of India."

National Investigation Agency chief SC Sinha told reporters it was premature to comment on the veracity of the HuJI email. He added, however, that he was taking the content of the email seriously as HuJI is a major terror outfit.

Adil Akhzer is a correspondent for NewsBlaze in New-Delhi India. Contact Adil through NewsBlaze