The blast took place at the reception counter located near Gate Number 5 of the High Court building while nearly 300 people were waiting in the queue to get entry pass to the court.
Terror group Harkat-ul-Jihadi-al-Islami (HuJI) claimed responsibility for the blast through an email warning more such attacks would be carried out at various other High Courts and the Supreme Court if the 2001 Parliament terror attack culprit Afzal Guru pending death penalty was not withdrawn.
A suspected HuJI activist is believed to have left the suitcase packed with explosives near the reception counter resulting in the blast at 10.14am. The day and timing of the blast seemed to have been carefully chosen.
This is the second attack at the Delhi High Court. The first one was a low intensity blast that rocked the court complex on May 25. Nobody was killed in that attack. The May blast which remains unresolved is now being seen as a dry run for the yesterday's blast since both attacks took place on a Wednesday and the court is crowded on Wednesdays when Public Interest Litigations (PILs) are admitted and heard.
Security forces
Teams of security forces including those belonging to the Delhi Police, the bomb disposal squad, fire brigade, ambulances, experts from the National Security Guard (NSG) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) reached the blast site within minutes. Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced that the investigations into the blast will be carried out by the NIA, a specialised federal agency created to probe terrorist attacks.
Initial investigations point out that a combination of ammonium nitrate and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) normally used by the army was used to trigger the bomb which was packed with shrapnel for greater impact. The blast left a trail of horror and blood as dead and injured were rushed to various hospitals.
[/img][/COLOR]
![[MarJana]](https://www.unp.me/data/avatars/s/108/108056.jpg?1585816329){kind=avatar}
