Tal Yehoshua-Koren, the wife of an Israeli diplomat injured in a terror attack
in New Delhi on Monday, gave her testimony on the incident to Indian
investigators before leaving for Israel in an air ambulance on Friday, The Times of India reported. Koren landed in Israel just before midnight on Friday and was taken to Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
According
to the report, Koren told Indian police that a bomber wearing black
clothes and riding a black motorcycle stuck the bomb on the vehicle and
that it exploded only 30 or 40 seconds later. A motorcyclist planted the
bomb on Yehoshua- Koren’s car at a traffic light, a short distance from
the Israeli embassy and the Indian prime minister’s residence.
"I
saw a biker close to my car when I was going to the American embassy.
There was a push on the car from behind and I saw the biker. I thought
the biker had touched the car. I even lowered the windowpanes to say
something to him but he escaped by then," the Times quoted Koren as saying.
Officials told the Times
that Koren's testimony could change their assumptions that the bomb was
a low-intensity incendiary device which explodes in three to five
seconds. They added that a bomb that took longer to explode would likely
have a timer or remote device. "We have to take a relook at all our
theories," one official said.
The officials told the Times
that Koren's description of the suspect was different than that which
they had been relying on - that the bomber was on a red bike wearing a
brown jacket.
According to the report, Mossad agents visited the scene of the blast on Friday, reenacting the attack.
Top intelligence analysts, briefing senior Indian officials
on their assessment of the incident thus far, expressed the view that
the attack was definitely carried out by a “foreign bomber” who could be
“an Iranian affiliated to a Shi’ite terrorist group.” A Thursday
briefing was attended by India’s National Security Adviser Shivshankar
Menon, Home Secretary R.K. Singh, and officials from the Research and
Analysis Wing, India’s external intelligence agency, and the
Intelligence Bureau, its domestic intelligence agency.
According
to the assessment, logistical support was provided to the “foreign
attacker” by “local contacts,” said a senior official who insisted on
anonymity. The bomber is believed to be an Iranian, with the plot
thought to have been put into action some six months ago, once the
contacts were secured. Investigators are now focusing their efforts on
identifying these local contacts.
Intelligence and security
agencies have yet to reach a decisive conclusion. They are looking into
the possibility that the bomber may have been a Shi’ite extremist from
Lebanon, a Palestinian or a Jordanian, and are scrutinizing records from
the Bureau of Immigration and the Foreigners Registration Office.
Iranian,
Lebanese and Palestinian students and visitors to New Delhi and other
cities are also being investigated. Agencies are examining their
activities and movements over the past few months, and are believed to
be questioning some travel agents.
Kanchan Gupta contributed to this report.