Shooting attack in India raises security concerns ahead of Commonwealth Games

Two gunmen opened fire Sunday on tourists near one of India’s largest mosques, injuring two Taiwanese men before making their escape on a motorcycle, raising security concerns two weeks before India hosts a major international sporting event.

The tourists were shot about 11:10 a.m. as they were boarding a bus parked near Jama Masjid, a mosque in New Delhi’s crowded, labyrinthine old city, police said, sparking a major manhunt and a security alert in the Indian capital and Mumbai.

A few hours after the attack, the BBC’s Hindi-language service said it received an e-mail purportedly sent by the Islamic militant group Indian Mujahedin, which threatened to attack the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

“We know preparations for the games are at their peak,” the e-mail reportedly said. “Beware, we too are preparing in full swing for a great surprise.”

Police said it was not clear whether the e-mail was related to the attack and downplayed the likelihood that the shootings were the work of an organized terrorist group, saying they could have been carried out by disgruntled youths or a gang of local criminals.

There were also reports that a car caught fire two hours after the gunfire in the same area under suspicious circumstances.

Indian officials, who have sought to reassure tourists, athletes and foreign governments for months that the capital is safe, were quick to point to the extensive precautions and high level of security in place.

More than 5,000 athletes are set to arrive within days for the Games, which will run Oct. 3-14 and feature teams from 71 countries.

“Please do not panic,” said Sheila Dikshit, New Delhi’s top elected official. “An incident like this is something worrying, but nothing to panic about.”

But analysts said the incident probably would raise concerns among national sports delegations and individuals planning to attend the Games, which have seen weak ticket sales after media reports of infrastructure problems, alleged corruption and a dengue fever epidemic.

Shortly after Sunday’s shooting, the U.S. Embassy issued a security advisory warning Americans to “maintain a heightened situational awareness.”

Palaniappan Chidambaram, India’s home minister, visited the two Taiwanese men in the hospital after one underwent an operation for a stomach wound.

Analysts said the apparent random targeting of tourists and the mosque location suggested that any of several groups could have been involved.

“It’s a bit surprising those hit were Taiwanese,” said Rahul Bhonsle, a retired brigadier general and head of Security-Risks.com, an analysis group. “If it was a Commonwealth person injured, one could think they were going after the Games. But a stray attack on any tourist raises a number of other speculations.”

Though the attack may be directed at the Games, it also could be linked to divided Kashmir — where nearly 100 people have died since June in clashes with Indian security forces — or to a legal decision expected Friday over a disputed religious site in Ayodhya that has sparked tension and deadly riots between Muslims and Hindus.

Sunday was also the second anniversary of an incident in which two alleged Indian Mujahedin militants were killed by police.

The Indian Mujahedin, which reportedly has ties with the banned Pakistani-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was outlawed in June amid suspicion that it played a part in an attack on a bakery in the western Indian city of Pune in which 10 people died and that it was behind blasts in several other cities.

mark.magnier@latimes.com

Anshul Rana in The Times’ New Delhi Bureau contributed to this report.