NEW DELHI: Eleven people were killed and at least 76 others were injured in a powerful blast outside Delhi high court gate number 5 on Wednesday morning.

The blast took place at around 10.15 am. Home secretary RK Singh told reporters the explosives were placed in a briefcase at the high court reception where hundreds of people come through every day to attend court cases.

At the time of explosion around 200 people, mostly litigants were present at the gate in a quee to get their passes made to enter the court.

There were several lawyers also present at the site.

Later, a mail purportedly written by Bangladesh-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami(HuJI) was sent to some media houses claiming responsibility.

The mail claimed the explosion was carried out to demand repeal of death sentence of Afzal Guru, a condemned prisoner in Parliament attack.

The government is investigating the email.

Severed limbs and pieces of flesh lay strewn on the ground where there were pools of blood after the deafening explosion that dug a small crater outside the reception area. CCTVs to monitor visitors were not reportedly installed.