By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi Police has asked the external affairs ministry to seek the extradition of three Iranians against whom a Delhi court has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for alleged involvement in last month’s terror attack on an Israeli embassy car.
According to a highly placed officer, ministry officials have contacted their Iranian counterparts to seek an extradition order for the three suspects – Houshang Afshar Irani, Ali Meheid Sadra and Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi – against whom Delhi Police has adequate evidence.
A Delhi Police officer also informed that Houshang Afshar Irani was the man who stuck the explosive on the Israeli embassy car on Feb 13, injuring the wife of an Israeli diplomat and three Indians.
“Irani’s other two associates, who had come to India just 15 days before the blast on tourist visas with him, left New Delhi on the day of the incident,” said the official.
All the suspects have Iranian passports issued by the Iranian government.
Irani, son of Ataollah, has his passport from January 2010, Sadra, son of Seyed Ebrahim, had his passport issued on Dec 25, 2008, while Abolghasemi, son of Mohammad Javad, got his passport on Dec 2, 2008.
The information was revealed by arrested Indian journalist Sayed Mohammed Ahmed Kazmi, 52, who was arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police on March 6 in south Delhi’s Lodhi Road area.
With Kazmi’s interrogation, Delhi Police found leads into the case that led them to issue arrest warrants against the three Iranians Wednesday.
“Irani had reportedly come to Delhi in February 2011 and met Kazmi regarding the plan to attack an Israeli official. He also stayed with Kazmi for some time. This time the bombers stayed at a Paharganj hotel,” said the official.
During the raid at Kazmi’s house in B.K. Dutt Colony near Jor Bagh, police say they recovered a photograph of the journalist together with Irani.
Police said they have enough evidence to prove Kazmi’s complicity in the case. Kazmi, sources say, was promised good money for his help and an instalment of $ 5,000 was already paid.
Kazmi was in regular touch with the bombers for the past one year and had also been asked to recruit men for the operation.
On Feb 13, four people were injured when an Israeli embassy car was struck by a bomb near the Israeli embassy in the New Delhi.
Tal Yehoshua Koren, wife of the Israeli defence attache, suffered multiple injuries when a motorcycle rider attached a magnetic explosive device to her car and sped away. Within seconds, the device exploded with a thunderous sound, setting the car on fire.
Israel had blamed Iran and its militant proxies for the car bomb attack.