Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

The Israeli vehicle damaged in last month's attack. AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi/PA Images
India

Journalist arrested over New Delhi car bomb attack

The attack targeted an Israeli diplomatic vehicle on the same day Georgian authorities foiled a similar attack in Tbilisi.

POLICE IN INDIA have arrested an Indian journalist in connection with the bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat’s vehicle last month.

The diplomat’s wife, driver and two other people were inured in the explosion which occurred near the embassy on 13 February.

The attack came on the same day as Georgian authorities reported preventing a bomb attack on an Israeli embassy vehicle in Tbilisi. The vehicle’s driver had discovered a grenade taped to the underside of the car and alerted the police. The device was successfully defused.

The following day, Thai authorities said that three Iranian men had accidentally exploded their house and that one of the men had lost his legs in the incident.

Indian officials today said that their investigation into the New Delhi attack continues and that Syed Mohammed Kazmi, 50, was arrested yesterday after police discovered he had been in contact with a suspect they believed attached a magnetic bomb to the embassy vehicle at traffic lights.

The journalist is due in court today.

Israeli officials have accused Iran of being behind the attacks, but Iran has denied the claims and Indian authorities say they are not assigning any blame until their investigations have concluded.

Security and intelligence expert Dr Joseph Fitsanakis told TheJournal.ie last month that the New Delhi attack could be seen as a warning against the two countries.

“India is one of Israel’s major allies in Asia, so the fact that an attack was carried out on an Israeli vehicle in India passes a message to both India and Israel,” he said.

- Additional reporting by the AP

Secret agents and magnetic bombs: the how and why of modern assassinations >