Pune:
Two days after the blasts in Pune, the big question is: Why was the German Bakery targeted? Koregaon Park, the area where it is situated, is like an island in Pune where a new aspirational city meets an old affluent hub that came up around Osho Ashram. Apart from well-paid techies from IT hubs, many foreign students from Pune's university and premiere institutes, and visitors from the world over who flock to Osho Commune, throng the bakery.
But now, their favourite hangout, a kitschy eatery, is now in shambles.
The German Bakery is also a very popular hangout, not just with foreign tourists but also with citizens of Pune. In fact the location of German Bakery is also such that it is extremely close to Chabad House or the Jewish Centre which has been considered as a target.
The Osho Ashram is just 200 yards away from the Chabad House and the German Bakery - an area that has not just one but two major hard targets as Home Minister P Chidambaram said; two hard targets that could have been on the hit list.
"I was shocked of course in the beginning but this has not changed my plans and also my feeling about staying in the ashram. I think such situation could happen anywhere in the world. So it's happened," said Emmanuel, a visitor from Italy.
"If you go America there is 9/11. If you go Indonesia there is a bomb. The main key is if everybody feel peace, there is a peace energy," said Mabel, a visitor from Hong Kong.
The blast at German Bakery has definitely led to some amount of panic and tension among foreigners, especially those coming to Osho Ashram.
NDTV asked Maa Sadhana, Managing Committee Member, Osho Meditation Research Centre, if they received any specific input from the police.
Q: You had received specific inputs from the police that this Centre could also be targetted by the police as also the Chabad House?
A: We have stepped up our security arrangements with the help of the government authorities, with the police.
At Chabad House, the fear more palpable. The brutal attack on the Jewish Religious Centre during 26/11 is still fresh in the memory of many people.
"We are scared like everybody, sure we are scared. But thank you, we appreciate the government, what they are doing here," said a Rabbi at the Chabad House.
This is the first terror attack in Pune, in fact the first terror attack in the country after 26/11. Pune has always been on the radar, being close to Mumbai, being a defence hub, and being a popular tourist destination, especially after 11 Indian Mujahideen men were arrested here in July 2008.
The watch intensified after it was found that terror suspect David Headley had did a recce of not one but two possible terror targets here. The fear is now a reality; hard targets have been hit, but for investigators a hard trail of terror now begins.