Kashmir teenagers arrested over Delhi blast email

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have arrested two school boys in connection with last week's bomb attack in Delhi. Shariq Ahmed and Abid Hussain were held over their alleged role in sending an email to the media claiming that a radical group had planted the bomb. The death toll in the blast has risen to 14. Seventy-six others were injured. India's Home Minister P Chidambaram has said it is likely that the attack was carried out by a group based in India. The blast at the high court in Delhi on 7 September was the second to target the building in five months. The police said Shariq Ahmed and Abid Hussain - both residents of Kishtwar town - have been charged with criminal conspiracy. They are suspected of having sent the email from a cyber cafe. The email claimed that the radical group Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (Huji) had planted the bomb. Reports say the boys go to a secondary school in Kishtwar, and neither has any criminal or militancy-related record. The US state department says that Huji is a terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda. Huji has been accused of carrying out attacks in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Last week, Mr Chidambaram told the BBC that even though Huji had reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast, the group had not been active in India for a while. On Wednesday night, federal home secretary RK Singh said there were some clues and "some people have been arrested". "But we do not want to disclose whatever progress we have made as it will hamper the investigation," he said.Earlier this week, police in the state of Gujarat arrested a man for sending a fake email which had claimed the bomb attack was the work of the Indian Mujahideen. Correspondents say last week's attack renewed doubts about India's ability to protect even its most important institutions, despite a security overhaul that followed devastating attacks by gunmen in Mumbai