New Delhi: German bakery, which was struck
by a bomb blast, was alerted by the Pune police five months
back about a possible threat to the popular eatery, Home
Ministry sources said on Wednesday.
The sources said the local police had sent a written
advisory to the owners of the German bakery and neighbouring
establishments as early as October 2009 to beef up security by
installing CCTV cameras and keep a watch on suspicious objects
in the vicinity in the wake of some intelligence inputs.
The advisory was received by the bakery manager under
his signature but the management apparently ignored it, the
sources said. The blast on February 13 has so far claimed 16
lives.
With Maharashtra's Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) unable to
make any headway in the Pune Blast, the Union Home Ministry
was contemplating handing over the case to the National
Investigation Agency (NIA).
The sources said a final decision in this regard would be
taken up in consultation with the Maharashtra Government. The
Centre had already deputed a team of NIA, which has been
created in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack.
Therefore, there won't be any hassles in handing over the
Pune blast probe to NIA, the sources said. The blast occured
after a RDX-laden packet went off inside the German Bakery.
On the role of the NIA in the case, Chidambaram had said
earlier that the new central investigating body has been sent
on the spot to gain an hands on experience.
"There is no confusion. The ATS is investigating the
case. I wanted the NIA officers to come so that they can have
the first hand immediate exposure to a terrorist crime. That
is a new body," he had said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 22:03