India says Delhi blast was 'terror incident', probes link with Kashmir arrests

The Indian government confirmed on Wednesday that it was treating a car blast that killed at least eight people and wounded dozens others in Delhi as a "terror incident" and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice as swiftly as possible.

Earlier, three sources familiar with the investigation said police were checking whether there was a link between the blast and the previous arrest of a group of seven men from the Jammu and Kashmir region with arms and bomb-making material.

The blast on Monday evening outside Delhi’s historic Red Fort was the first such explosion in the heavily guarded city of more than 30 million people since 2011.

Indian authorities are investigating the blast under a stringent anti-terrorism law and have said that all angles are being probed. They have not named anyone or made any arrests in connection with the explosion.

In a resolution adopted late on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet said: "The country has witnessed a heinous terror incident, perpetrated by anti-national forces, through a car explosion."

"The Cabinet directs that the investigation into the incident be pursued with the utmost urgency and professionalism so that the perpetrators, their collaborators, and their sponsors are identified and brought to justice without delay."

Hours before the blast in Delhi, police in the Jammu and Kashmir federal territory said they had arrested seven men, including two doctors, in connection with a separate anti-terror probe and searches in Kashmir, and in the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that border Delhi.

Police found two pistols, two assault rifles and 2,900 kg of bomb-making material during the raids, a Kashmir police statement said.

"The investigation has revealed a white-collar terror ecosystem, involving radicalised professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers, operating from Pakistan and other countries," it said, adding that the men were linked to Pakistan-based militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammad and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.

India accuses Pakistan of supporting militants in Kashmir, the Himalayan region which both nations claim, but Islamabad denies the accusation.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in an anti-Indian insurgency there since 1989 although violence has tapered off in recent years.