Anna Hazare condoles with blast victims, dares militants to an open fight

 Anti-graft crusader and veteran social activist Anna Hazare has expressed his grief with the families of those killed in Wednesday's Delhi High Court blast and dared anti-social militant elements to a fight in the open rather than claiming innocent lives.

Interacting with media in his village of Ralegan Siddi, Hazare said: “I express my tribute to those who have been killed in the blast. I think that the people who died in the blast, they in a way laid down their lives for the society because they were completely innocent and still they were killed in the blast.”

The ex-army soldier turned social activist appealed to people across India to help the security agencies in fighting the menace of militancy.

“The militant situation in the country is becoming serious day by day. And that is why along with the police, each and every citizen needs to be alert. If they find something suspicious, they should go ahead and report to the police,” said Hazare.

Since Wednesday, several politicians, cutting across party lines, have visited the three hospitals to express solidarity with the blast victims.

Earlier in May, a low-intensity blast outside the same court had triggered panic, but fortunately nobody was injured.

On their part, the authorities said they are investigating a claim of responsibility allegedly made by the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HUJI) militant group -- an al Qaeda affiliate with bases in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Ilyas Kashmiri, who US authorities believe was recently killed in Pakistan, was the head of the group and senior al Qaeda member.

Forensic evidence initially showing nitrate based explosives with possible traces of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), a powerful high explosive, a senior Home (interior) Ministry official.

Meanwhile, sketches of two suspects have also been released to the public.

In an e-mail to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the South Asian militant group, called on India to repeal the death sentence of a man convicted in connection with an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 and warned it would otherwise target major courts in the country.

An attack in broad daylight at such a high-profile location, which lacked CCTV cameras and had faulty security scanners, quickly led critics to question the authorities readiness especially as it came ahead of the September 11, 2001 anniversary of attacks in the United States.