Zeenews Bureau
Pune/Mumbai/New Delhi: The Govt on Sunday night did not rule out the involvement of Pak-based Jamaat-ul-Dawah (JUD) behind the Pune terror attack, days after the front of terror group LeT spoke of the western city being a target.
As Investigators pieced together clues to unravel the
identity of those behind last night's attack on German Bakery,
the possibility of execution of terror plans by LeT at the
places recced by Pakistani-American David Headley, a terror
suspect, currently in US custody in connection with 26/11 is
also being looked into.
Two foreigners--Italian woman and an Iranian
male student--were among the nine persons killed in the first
strike since the Mumbai carnage on November 26, 2008.
No arrests have been made in the attack in which officials
said the deadly RDX and Ammonium Nitrate were suspected to
have been used.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reviewed the situation with
Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi following the bomb
blast at German Bakery yesterday and directed the Centre and
the Maharashtra government to take coordinated and effective
action to speedily investigate the matter. Chidambaram ruled
out any intelligence failure in the attack.
PC visits site, hold meet in Delhi
Chidambaram visited the site of the attack after which he
dismissed any "intelligence failure" and said the terrorists
have hit a "soft target". Maharasahtra's Anti Terrorism Squad
formed four investigating teams to probe the Pune blast.
He held a high-level meeting in Delhi to review the
security situation following which a red alert was sounded in
cities like Kanpur, Indore and the national capital.
The meeting also analysed the speech made by Hafiz Abdur
Rahman Makki, leader of terror outfit amalgam Jamaat-ul-Dawah,
at the Kashmir Solidarity Day conference held in Pakistan
-occupied-Kashmir on February 4 in which he had mentioned
about attacks on Indian cities including Pune.
Chidambaram said India must be allowed to have a detailed
interrogation of Headley, a Pakistani-American who is is in US
custody for suspected involvement in Mumbai terror attack.
5 women among blast victims
Pune: Confirming deaths of nine persons
in the blast, Pune Police Commissioner Satya Pal Singh said
there were five women among the victims and put the number of
injured at 45.
At the blast site Singh told reporters that a team of
forensic experts was investigating the nature of explosive
devise used in the blast. Asked whether it was a terror
attack, Singh said, "I cannot confirm this aspect before
getting opinion of the investigating team".
He appealed to the people not to panic and maintain
peace, adding that Police were checking all entry and exit points around
the city, he added.
When asked if IM was involved, Pune Police Commissioner
Satyapal Singh said, "We can't say anything right now."
Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba has previously
helped IM carry out some of the terror attacks in India.
Police obtain CCTV footage
Maharashtra police on Sunday said it has
obtained the CCTV footage of the frontal area of the German
bakery at the time of the blast, which killed nine persons,
including two foreign nationals, and injured 60.
Close Circuit Television (CCTV) of a five star hotel
'O' had captured frontal open area visuals of German bakery
during the blast and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has taken the
possession of the footage, said Inspector General (Law &
Order) Rashmi Shukla.
"The bakery has no CCTVs. The hotel, which has CCTVs,
is located opposite the bakery. The ATS is now analysing
the footage," she said but refused to reveal the length and
contents of the footage.
Under the supervision of state police chief A N Roy and
state terrorism squad chief K P Raghuvanshi, four separate
ATS teams headed by DIG (ATS) Ravindra Kadam have been formed
to speed up the probe.
"These teams have been formed to look into different
aspects of the investigation," she said.
She said all the deceased have been identified. They are
Sayyed Abdul Gani(26) from Iran, Nadia Macerina(37)from Italy,
Ankik Dhar(24), Anandi Dhar(19) and Shilpa Goenka(23) of
Kolkata, T Sundari(22) of Bangalore, Bineeta Gadani of Mumbai,
Shankar Pansare (40) and Gokul N of Pune.
Among the 60 injured, 12 are foreigners --- five from
Iran, two from Nepal, one each from Taiwan, Germany and Yemen
and two from Sudan.
20 have been discharged while the rest are undergoing
treatment at different hospitals in Pune including Jehangir,
Ruby and Sasson.
Forensic report to establish the nature of explosives
used in the blast was awaited, Shukla said, adding that
policemen have been asked to remain alert and security
at vital installations, religious places, commercial and
industrial establishments has been beefed up.
To a query, Shukla denied that there were leads to
indicate that the blast was targeted at foreigners.
She said the accused in the blast case were booked
under relevant sections of the IPC, Indian Explosive Act, Arms
Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Bund garden
police station in Pune.
First Published: Monday, February 15, 2010, 09:19