Eight killed, 32 hurt in Pune terror blast (Fourth Lead)

PUNE/NEW DELHI - In the first major terror strike since the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, at least eight people, including a foreigner, were killed and 32 injured when a bomb ripped through the landmark German Bakery in Pune’s upscale Koregaon Park Saturday evening.

The blast occurred around 7.30 p.m. after a waiter at the bakery-cum-restaurant, a popular haunt of foreigners, noticed an unattended bag lying in the premises. It exploded when he attempted to open the bag, union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told reporters in New Delhi.

“According to information received from the state police and Intelligence Bureau, a bomb/explosive occurred at the German Bakery around 7.30 p.m.,” Pillai said, adding that eight people, including a foreigner were killed and 32 were injured. A foreigner was also among the injured.

“The nationalities of the foreigners are being ascertained,” he added.

The Chabad House Jewish religious centre is located near the blast site. The Chabad House in Mumbai was also targeted during the 26/11 attacks.

The blast, initially suspected to be due to a gas cylinder explosion, engulfed the entire bakery in flames, trapping many of the victims during the peak weekend business hour.

Pillai said Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley had surveyed the area where the blast occurred but refused to immediately link the attack to any terror organisation.

“The Osho Ashram, situated barely 200 yards from the bakery, was one of the sites surveyed by Lashkar operative David Headley,” Pillai said, adding the central agencies had informed the Maharashtra Police on October 12, 2009 about Headley’s visit.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said: “We are checking if there were intelligent inputs. We get regular inputs but I do not know how specific they were.”

As per preliminary investigations, at least 5-7 kg of explosives were triggered off by an improvised explosive device (IED), similar to the type used in the serial blasts in Mumbai suburban trains almost five years ago.

The injured have been shifted to various public and private hospitals including Sassoon, Ruby, and Jehangir hospitals.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said relief and rescue efforts were in full swi”g.

“It’s a unfortunate incident. ATS is investigating. Security has been beefed up at important places. We request people not to panic. Police is doing”its job,” he added.

The investigators have not zeroed in on any group or individuals who could be behind the explosion, but the police have detained a cashier of the bakery for questioning and investigations, Pune Joint Police Commissioner R. Sonawane said.

Pillai said a team of forensic experts from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was being airlifted to Pune to assist the state police in investigations.

“Maharashtra Police, the state’s Anti-Terrorism Squad and forensic experts from the state government were at the site to conduct investigations,” the home secretary said.

Pillai said that the Maharashtra government had issued an advisory in the wake of the blasts and an advisory had also been issued by the home ministry warning the people not to open any unidentified objects and report all such cases to the police.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who is currently in Chennai, is likely to visit Pune Sunday.

German Bakery is a landmark frequented by the elite and popular with foreigners and has often been compared with the Leopold Caf in Mumbai, one of the targets in the Nov 26-29, 2008 terror attacks.