Delhi bomb: Pakistan-based terror group claims responsibility

The Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami has claimed credit for this morning's terrorist attack outside the Delhi High Court, the Times of India quotes an official as saying.  

The powerful blast ripped through a crowd gathered outside the Delhi High Court Wednesday morning, As many as 62 others were injured by the blast, which was caused by an improvised explosive device hidden in a briefcase.

India: Powerful blast reported at Delhi High Court

As more of the injured succumbed to their wounds, the death toll has climbed to 12, the paper said. The attack, which followed a smaller bomb at the court in May that some speculate might have been a dry run, was the deadliest terrorist incident in the capital in three years.

According to TOI, HuJI sent an email to various media outlets that read, "We own the responsibility for today's blasts at Delhi high court. Our demand is that Mohammed Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately else we would target major high courts and the Supreme Court of India."

The paper quoted National Investigation Agency chief SC Sinha as saying it was premature to comment on whether the email was genuine, but said his office was taking it seriously at this point.

Afzal Guru was given the death sentence by the Supreme Court in 2004 for his role in the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. 

Until recently led by slain terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri, HuJI focuses most of its efforts on waging war against the Indian state in Kashmir, though it has also been active in Bangladesh according to some reports.