Pune:
The blast at the German Bakery in Pune on Saturday night has the government facing the same question from both the public and the Opposition: Given that this was seen as vulnerable to a terror attack, was enough done to keep it safe?
Latest reports say 11 people were killed and 59 injured after a bomb in a knapsack exploded in the German Bakery across the road from the Jewish Chabad House and a stone's throw from the Osho Ashram.
Terror suspect David Headley had visited the Osho Ashram and stayed at a hotel in the same area in 2008. All this was revealed after Headley was arrested by the FBI in Chicago in last September. After that, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram says, Pune's "Koregan Park was on the radar." (
Read: 26/11 suspect Headley did recce of blast site)
However, the Home Minister added, "The prayer centre and the Osho Ashram were the hard targets and a number of security measures were taken by the police for these."
Headley, the Pakistan-born American terror suspect, was arrested by the FBI last year. (
Read & Watch: Govt had 'non-specific' intelligence: Chagan Bhujbal) |
(Watch: Had no intelligence on bakery: R R Patil) Government sources say the Headley link suggests the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which orchestrated the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, is most likely behind the Pune blast.
A possible Lashkar connection will make it tough for the Indian government to defend its offer of talks to Pakistan, made last week, and accepted by Pakistan.
In Delhi on Sunday, Opposition leader Arun Jaitley said: "These were Indian pre-conditions that as long as Pakistani soil is used for building infrastructure of terror against India, and till such time there is cooperation in the context of 26/11, we cannot talk to Pakistan. The composite dialogue cannot resume. But nothing seems to have changed and the government of India took a U-turn."
The bomb exploded at 6:52 pm on Saturday evening. "I told my boss there was a red and black colour bag under the table. He told me go and get it, then somebody else asked for water so I went to get four bottles. That's when the blast happened," said Paras Remal, said a waiter at the bakery.
(Exclusive: Key eyewitness' brush with death)Following the blast, the Home Ministry has advised all citizens of thecountry not to touch any unidentified or unclaimed object or baggage,but report it to the nearest police station.
(Read: No intelligence failure in Pune: Chidambaram)The bakery itself is a hangout for foreign national tourists and locals alike. The blast occurred was so powerful that it left a 4x6 ft crater in the bakery wall. It was initially reported as a simple LPG cylinder blast. (
Watch: Biggest terror act in 14 months, says Chidambaram)
Soon after, the Home Ministry issued a confirmation from Delhi. "It was a bomb blast; it was an IED. It appears that an unattended package was opened by a waiter and it exploded," said Home Secretary G K Pillai. (
Watch the press conference)
The Home Secretary also said that none of the nine persons killed is a foreigner.
"None of the bodies of the nine killed has been identified yet as that of a foreigner. Out of the nine, three bodies have been identified which are of Indians and others' identification process is still going on," he told reporters.
Pillai said among the injured, four are Iranians, two Sudanese, one Taiwanese, one German and two Nepalese.
The Maharashtra Police says it's also looking into whether the Indian Mujahideen is responsible for the blast. Of the 21 Indian Mujahideen men the Mumbai police had arrested in July 2008, 11 were from Pune, indicating a strong presence of the outfit in the city. The arrested Indian Mujahideen men in fact told interrogators of "presence" in Pune, says Maharashtra Police.
A Delhi blast accused and alleged Indian Mujahideen militant Shahzaad is also being questioned in custody on whether the outfit had sleeper cells in Pune. Sources said Shahzad has told interrogators the Indian Mujahideen has a presence in Maharashtra but so far, there's nothing on the Pune blast.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Terror Squad of the Maharashtra Police has taken over the case. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Sunday, Rashmi Shukla, Inspector General, Law and Order, said: "The forensic laboratory has just started the investigation, we are waiting for the report regarding material used in explosion. The moment we get the report we will give you the details about the blast."
Recent terror attacks in Maharashtra
- Nov 26, 2008: Over 170 people died and several others injured in coordinate serial explosions and indiscriminate firing across Mumbai including the crowded CST railway station, two five star hotels Oberoi and Taj.
- Malegaon, Maharashtra, Sep 29, 2008: Five people died after a bomb kept in a motorbike went off in a crowded market.
- September 8, 2006: 30 dead and 100 hurt in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon.
- July 11, 2006: Seven bombs on Mumbai's trains kill over 200 and injure 700 others.
- Aug 2004: 52 killed and more than 100 wounded in blasts in Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar.