Conspiracy to bomb Israeli diplomat's car hatched in 2011

New Delhi, Mar 15: The conspiracy to bomb the Israeli diplomat's car here was hatched in early 2011 when two Iranian nationals came to India to conduct recce of the embassy besides monitoring the entry and exit timing of diplomats, official sources said here on Thursday.

The two -- Syed Ali Mehdi Sadr and Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi -- had been allegedly accompanying arrested journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmed Kazmi in their reconnaissance mission of the Israeli Embassy before they left India for Tehran to finalise the plan and prepare an executer of the operation, they said.

Housan Afshar is alleged to be the person who sticked the bomb to the car of Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua on February 13 in which she was critically injured. Four others suffered minor injuries.

Afshar arrived in India in the last week of January and stayed in a hotel in Karol Bagh in central Delhi, they said and claimed that he had meetings with Kazmi as well and also visited his residence in B K Dutt colony in South Delhi.

The motorcycle used for the blast had been recovered and belonged to a hotel staffer where Afshar was staying during his stay in India. He had been using his motorcycle earlier too before the incident and the staffer obliged him without knowing the nefarious designs of the bomber.

After sticking the bomb to the Israeli diplomat's car, Afshar boarded a flight to Kuala Lumpur the same evening on his way to Tehran.

Delhi Police last night secured a non-bailable warrant against the three Iranian nationals in the case from Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav's court and will approach the Interpol soon for issuance of an Interpol Red Corner notice against them.

PTI