By IANS,
New Delhi : A day after it received an e-mail warning of a possible terror attack in a popular shopping area here, the Japanese embassy Thursday closed the consular section and warned Japanese nationals in the country to avoid crowded areas.
“The consular section remained closed today. We are thinking of whether to open it tomorrow or not,” a spokesperson of the Japanese embassy told IANS Thursday when asked about the e-mail alert.
The information about the terror threat and the closing of the consular section has been posted on the website of the Japanese embassy, the official said. The embassy official, however, refused to disclose any details of the e-mail alert it received Wednesday.
“We received some information about the terror threat and we shared it with Indian authorities,” the official said.
The e-mail threat comes days after serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad killed over 50 people and left hundreds injured.
Delhi Police suspected a frustrated man, who was denied visa by the embassy, behind an e-mail sent to the Japanese embassy that warned of a terror attack in Sarojini Nagar, a popular shopping haunt here.
“The embassy has forwarded an e-mail to us. It says that after the serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad the next target will be Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar market,” a senior Delhi Police official told IANS.
“We have almost identified him and he would be arrested soon,” the official added.
The official said the Special Cell, an expert wing to combat terrorism, was studying the e-mail. “There is nothing to worry and all reports related to increased security at the embassy are rubbish,” the official added.
The police said no case was registered till late Wednesday.
Since Sunday, metros across the nation have reported a large number of hoax calls even as police found and defused 28 bombs in Surat.
The Sarojini Nagar market was targeted by terrorists when it was hit by one of the three bombs Oct 29, 2005, killing at least 50 people.