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Two
Taiwanese shot at Jama Masjid, man detained
Sunday, September 19, 2010 10:58:57 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi:
Two Taiwanese tourists were wounded when two gunmen on a
motorcycle opened random fire near the Jama Masjid here Sunday
morning, creating a scare ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Ko Chang and Ku Ze Wei, both in their 20s, were shot in the head
and stomach respectively when the gunmen fired at a bus from which
a group of tourists was alighting, police and witnesses said.
The attack, just after 11 a.m., took place near one of the main
gates of the mammoth, 16th century red sandstone mosque in Old
Delhi.
At least 10 rounds were fired, the incident lasting nearly a
minute, before a young man picked up a stone in a bid to trip the
gunmen who sped away through the lanes of Jama Masjid area.
A policeman also gave chase on foot but in vain, a stunned Shahi
Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari told reporters.
It was the man riding pillion on the bike opened fire, police
said.
Rickshaw puller Salim said: "I was at a distance when I saw two
fair-skinned and tall men on a bike. They reached the bus and
started shooting indiscriminately as the tourists were getting off
the bus."
Doctors at the LNJP hospital in the city centre extracted a bullet
from Chang's abdomen and shifted him to the Intensive Care Unit.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram later visited the wounded Taiwanese.
The firing sparked panic in the thickly populated area. In no
time, authorities issued a high security alert in both New Delhi
and Mumbai, two cities that have suffered numerous terror attacks
in the past.
In a separate incident that mystified the police, a parked Maruti
car in the vicinity of Jama Masjid suddenly caught fire. A police
official blamed it on short-circuit. Others said they were probing
all angles.
Fire engines quickly put out the leaping flames. No one was
injured in the car incident.
"We cannot say anything definitively now," a Delhi Police officer
said, when journalists wanted to know if the shooting was related
to the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games.
Police detained a young man for the attack on the Taiwanese,
saying a black Hero Honda Passion motorcycle used in the crime
belonged to him. The man is said to live in Vasant Kunj in south
Delhi.
The attack came despite a high level of security here in the run
up to the Commonwealth Games that will draw athletes and officials
from 71 countries and territories.
Shahi Imam Bukhari called it a terror attack which he said was
aimed at keeping away foreigners from the Indian capital ahead of
the Games.
"It was indiscriminate firing," said the Imam, whose family --
originally from Central Asia -- has presided over Jama Masjid
since it was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
Shrine official Umar Khan told IANS: "All of us heard the gunshots
distinctly. It was really loud."
Hundreds streamed out of houses and shops after the shooting.
Police immediately stepped up deployment in the area to keep
people away from the site.
Random checking of motorcycles also began all across the city.
Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said: "This is a very sad
incident."
The Jama Masjid, which faces the Red Fort monument, receives a
large number of Indian and foreign tourists, the number going up
on Sundays and holidays.
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