Indian authorities accused Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) – two terrorist groups operating from Pakistan – of perpetrating the attack;[2][3] however, LeT denied involvement.

The gunmen used a fake identity sticker on the car they drove and thus easily breached the security deployed around the parliamentary complex.

[7] The gunmen drove their vehicle into the car of the Indian Vice President Krishan Kant (who was in the building at the time), got out, and began shooting.

[6][8] Delhi Police stated that five terrorists carried out the attack and the names given by them were: Hamza, Haider alias Tufail, Rana, Ranvijay and Mohammed – who were members of Jaish-e-Mohammed and were killed.

[7] In their book The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden, Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy state that then-CIA station chief Robert Grenier and Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin suspected that the ISI had approved the attack in order to force the redeployment of troops under the command of Ali Jan Aurakzai away from the Durand Line, allowing Osama bin Laden to escape into Pakistan during the Battle of Tora Bora.

[13] In 2003, the Border Security Force (BSF) eliminated Ghazi Baba, the commander-in-chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed and the mastermind of the attack, in the Noor Bagh neighborhood of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.

Afsan, was acquitted of all the charges except the one under Section 123 IPC for which she was convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine.

They were also sentenced to life imprisonment on as many as eight counts under the provisions of IPC, POTA and Explosive Substances Act in addition to varying amounts of fine.

The amount of a million Indian rupees, which was recovered from the possession of two of the accused, namely, Afzal Guru and Shaukat Hussain, was forfeited to the State under Section 6 of the POTA.

[citation needed] Geelani, a young lecturer at Delhi University, received support from his outraged colleagues and friends, who were certain that he had been framed.

[citation needed] Afzal Guru, sentenced to death by Indian court and due to be hanged on 20 October 2006, had his execution stayed.

[23][24] Two Delhi Police officials, ACP Rajbir Singh[25] and Mohan Chand Sharma are credited for gathering prima facie evidence in the case.

Singh was later shot dead by a friend over a property deal[25] and Sharma was killed during the Batla House encounter with militants in Delhi.

Home Minister LK Advani claimed, "We have received some clues about yesterday's incident, which shows that a neighbouring country, and some terrorist organisations active there behind it",[28] in an indirect reference to Pakistan and Pakistan-based militants groups.