Hunt on for Jama Masjid attackers; injured Taiwanese better

NEW DELHI - A hunt is on for the two attackers who opened fire outside Delhi’s 17th century Jama Masjid even as the condition of the two injured Taiwanese tourists improved Monday, a day after the shooting. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has appealed to people not to panic.

Doctors at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital say the injured tourists - Ko Chang and Ku Ze Wei, both in their 20s - have shown improvement. They were shot in the head and stomach respectively when the gunmen fired at a bus from which tourists was alighting outside gate 3 of the Jama Masjid around 11.30 a.m. Sunday.

“The injured have shown improvement and a special team of senior doctors is monitoring their condition,” said LNJP medical superintendent Amit Banerjee.

Dikshit and Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia Monday visited the injured at the hospital.

Asking people to remain alert and not panic, especially as the incident comes ahead of the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games. Dikshit said: “I have spoken to Delhi Police Commissioner to strengthen security arrangements so that there is foolproof security during the Games.”

Police are hunting for attackers based on eyewitness accounts.

“Investigations are on,” a Delhi Police official told IANS. “We are taking the investigation forward based on eyewitness accounts. We have been told that the attackers recced the area at least four times,” he said.

There is speculation that the banned Indian Mujahideen group may be involved in the attack as it issued an e-mail threatening to derail the Commonwealth Games to avenge the killings of civilian protesters in the Kashmir Valley soon after the Jama Masjid shooting.

The attack came just two weeks before the Games. A high alert was issued by police Sunday.