8 dead in Pune blast, cops suspect terror angle

[Bharatvarsh2]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/8-dead-in-pun...ml?from=tn

[Guest]

9 dead, 45 injured in blast at Pune's German Bakery

[url="http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_9-dead-45-injured-in-blast-at-pune-s-german-bakery_1347483"]link[/url]

Pune: Nine people including one foreigner were killed and 45 injured in a suspected bomb blast in the German Bakery at Koregaon Park which also houses a Jewish prayer house and the Osho Ashram here this evening. Pune Police Commissioner Satya Pal Singh said there were five women among the victims.



The blast took place at the German Bakery, an old business establishment, at around 7:15pm. Initial reports have suggested that the Indian Mujahideen is being suspected to be behind the blast.



"There was a bomb blast. There have been eight deaths and 33 people were injured", said Pune joint commissioner of police Rajendra Sonwane.



"It is a suspected bomb blast. So far, it is not confirmed. We are verifying this", he said adding "we have not arrived at any conclusion at this stage but prima facie it appears that it is a bomb blast".



A team of Anti-Terrorism Squad and bomb disposal squad visited the spot to ascertain the nature of the blast. Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan said it was yet to be established as to what was the cause of the blast.



He said he had talked to the police commissioner who told him that unless they examined the evidence on the scene of the blast they cannot come to any conclusion.



Chavan made the remarks replying to a question if the blast was a terror attack. The joint commissioner said those injured in the blast were shifted to Sassoon Hospital, Udhrani Hospital and Jahangir Hospital. Asked about the presence of foreigners among the injured, he said "we are verifying this".



The Union home ministry tonight has sent an advisory to all states asking people not to touch unclaimed objects in the wake of the terror attack in Pune that killed 8 people.



The advisory has also asked people to inform their nearest police station if any suspicious objects were found, a home ministry spokesman said.



High alert in Maharashtra

A high alert has been sounded in the state following the blast in Pune, the police said. The state police has been asked to remain on "high alert", a senior police official told PTI.



At least eight people were killed and over 30 injured in the suspected bomb blast in a popular bakery in Koregaon Park which houses a Jewish prayer house and the Osho commune.



The blast took place at the German Bakery, an old business establishment, at around 1830 hours.



Identifying bodies

Indicating that there could be more foreign nationals among the dead and the injured in the German Bakery blast, Pune’s joint police commissioner Rajendra Sonwane on Saturday evening said that the nationalities of the dead persons were being identified.



“So far eight deaths have been confirmed and 32 people were injured. Indeed it looks like a bomb blast. It is suspected as bomb blast but not yet confirmed,” said Sonwane on a private channel.



“We are verifying the nationality of the injured and the killed persons in the bomb blast, said Sonwane.



"We shifted the injured to various hospitals in Pune with the help of public,” he added.

Why media/police name suspect immediately without any investigation?

[Guest]

'We have to be cautious, alert', says Chavan

Major terror strikes in Maharashtra

Maharashtra CM announces ex-gratia to Pune blast victims

Pune blast: Kalmadi urges people not to panic

Headley had twice visited Koregaon Park area in 2008-09

Home Ministry sends advisory to states

BJP attacks Maharashtra government over Pune blast

No prior intelligence about Pune terror attack: MHA

Security beefed up at places where Headley visited: Chavan

Sonia anguished over Pune blast

[Guest]

[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Nine-killed-45-injured-in-Pune-terror-attack/H1-Article1-508520.aspx"]Nine killed, 45 injured in Pune terror attack[/url]

One victims is a foreigner; the identity of the rest had not been ascertained till late Saturday.

“It’s a terror attack. A CBI team is being sent to Pune,” Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said.

The blast occurred at 7 pm. People in the vicinity heard an explosion and initially suspected it to be a cylinder blast.



The German Bakery, a favourite haunt for foreigners, is located just across the road from Osho Ashram. A Jewish Chabad house and a synagogue are 500 metres away from the bakery.

“A bomb disposal squad confirmed it to be a bomb blast. Details of the explosives used are being ascertained,” said a spokesperson of the Army’s Southern Command headquartered at Pune.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said: “All the cylinders in the bakery are intact. Therefore, the blast could be due to something else.”



Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajendra Sonawane said, “Prima facie, it appears to be a bomb blast”.

[Guest]

Terror targets Pune

pioneer.com

Parwinder Sandhu/TN Raghunatha | Pune/Mumbai

9 killed, 45 injured in german bakery blast



In the first major terror strike after the 26/11 attacks, nine persons — including four foreigners — were killed and 45 others injured, when a high-intensity explosion rocked a landmark joint “German Bakery” at the posh Koregaon Park locality at Pune on Saturday evening.



The blast — believed to have been triggered by an IED kept in an abandoned bag — took place at German Bakery at 6.56 pm. Significantly enough, the German Bakery is located in the vicinity of Osho Ashram and the Jewish Centre “Chabad House”.



Eyewitnesses said the IED went off when a waiter at the fashionable bakery-cum-restaurant went to pick up an unattended baggage left on a table by a customer. The bakery is a favourite joint of the foreign tourists visiting Pune. There were “50 to 60” customers inside the congested bakery when the incident took place.



Though there was no official word till 11.30 pm on the identities of the persons killed in the blast, sources said there were five foreigners — including four women — among those killed in the mishap.



The injured have been admitted to the State-run Sassoon Hospital, Jehangir Hospital, Ruby Hall Clinic and Inlaks & Badhrani Hospital. Of the injured, the condition of at least four to five persons was said to be serious.



Though there was no official confirmation as to who might have been behind the attack, there were pointers to suggest that the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) might have had a role to play in the attacks.



For, LeT operative David Coleman Headley — who had allegedly carried out reconnaissance for the 26/11 attacks and some other possible terror strikes — had surveyed both Osho Ashram and Chabad House, during his two visits to Pune between June 2008 and March 2009. In fact, Headley had stayed at Hotel Surya Villa, which is in the walking distance of the explosion site, the Osho Ashram and Chabad House.



According to intelligence agency sources, Headley’s visit to Pune was part of a larger plan to strike at upmarket hotels and Jewish centres. Headley had reportedly visited Chabad House posing himself as a Jew. The Chabad House connection should be seen in the light of the fact that one of the targeted sites in the 26/11 attacks was Nariman House, also a Jewish centre, at Colaba in south Mumbai.



What was initially suspected a cylinder blast at German Bakery turned out to be a high-intensity explosion - a fact that Pune’s Joint Police Commissioner Rajendra Sonwane confirmed with an hour of the incident. “Prima facie, we suspect the incident was a bomb blast. The nationalities of the persons killed have so far not been established yet,” Sonawane told media persons.



Within three hours of the blast, the State Anti-Terrorism Squad took over the investigations. The ATS is being assisted by the National Investigation Agency - which had earlier probed Headley’s visit to Pune. Forensic teams from the State police and CBI have rushed to Pune to assist the investigators.



Though the investigators have not detained any one in connection with the incident, the police said that they were eliciting details of the incident from the cashier as the hotel.



The police, however, recovered a live explosive from an unclaimed bag left in an auto-rickshaw parked in the vicinity of the blast site.



Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe was among the first few persons to reach the blast site. While State Home Minister RR Patil and Maharashtra ATS chief KP Raghuvanshi were expected to reach later in the night. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who is currently in Chennai, is likely to visit Pune on Sunday.



Meanwhile, the Pune city and other parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, have been put on a high alert.

[dhu]

It was a small blast. An ideal candidate for pinning on Hindus.

[Guest]

[quote name='dhu' date='14 February 2010 - 05:23 AM' timestamp='1266104755' post='104192']

It was a small blast. An ideal candidate for pinning on Hindus.

[/quote]

[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/No-intelligence-lapse-in-Pune-blast-Chidambaram/H1-Article1-508660.aspx"]link[/url]

Dismissing "intelligence failure" in the Pune blast, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said the terrorists have hit a "soft target" like the German bakery which is frequented by foreigners and Indians alike.

What a big deal it was a soft target Indian minister just said it. Some died what a big deal.

[Guest]

[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/india/None-of-nine-killed-in-Pune-blast-a-foreigner-Pillai/Article1-508676.aspx"]None of nine killed in Pune blast a foreigner: Pillai[/url]

None of the nine people killed in the Pune blast is a foreigner and the three bodies identified so far are of Indians, Union Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai said in New Delhi on Sunday.



....





Pillai said among the injured, four are Iranians, two Sudanese, one Taiwanese, one German and two Nepalese.

Good news for minister all dead are Indians

[Husky]

1. Indian Express didn't yet hear about how there's "No foreigners killed", but apparently finds its near enough to a Ganesha Mandal:



news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3627614

14/02/2010

Pune terror blast shatters calm after Mumbai 26/11



Pune: Breaking the over 400-day lull after the attacks in Mumbai, suspected terrorists set off a bomb that ripped through the heart of Pune’s international face for almost two decades, German Bakery in upmarket Koregaon Park, killing at least nine people and leaving over 50 injured, a dozen of whom are critical, police said.



Of those killed, five are reported to be women and at least one is a foreigner. Police said that given the condition of the bodies, the identification exercise is still going on. The lone dead person identified is Shankar Pansare from Belha taluka of Pune district.



While a Jewish prayer centre, the Chabad House, is right across the road from the bakery, the Osho Ashram is barely 100 m away. Incidentally, both were venues recorded and monitored by Lashkar suspect David Coleman Headley, currently in FBI custody in the US, charged with helping plot the 26/11 attacks. Hotel Surya Villa, where he checked in during his visits, is also close to the bakery.



Police sources said that a bakery employee had picked up an "abandoned" bag and tried to open it when the explosion took place. However, there were also reports late tonight that the employee is said to have told the police that a "woman got off an autorickshaw" and handed him the bag.



So deafening was the blast -- suspected to be an improvised explosive device -- that it could be heard 2 km away when it occurred at around 7 pm. Some of the bodies were blown to pieces, blood marked the site.



For almost an hour, the city police said it was set off by "multiple gas cylinders," before Pune Joint Commissioner of Police Rajendra Sonawane confirmed it was a bomb blast -- making this the first terror strike in Pune.

[color="#800080"](There's a first time for everyone. Indoos will need to get used to it. The islamic jihad is not going away, but is busy gaining momentum.)[/color]



A team of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Intelligence and ballistic experts reached the spot to investigate the nature of the explosive used in the high-intensity blast.



Police are questioning the bakery's cashier. Prakash Barge, an eyewitness, told The Sunday Express that he was standing at the nearby Ganesh Mandal when the explosion took place. "I heard a big noise and saw flames coming out of the bakery. Along with others from the mandal, I rushed to the spot where I saw bodies lying in pools of blood," he said. Barge said many mandal activists picked up the injured and shifted them to nearby private hospitals in autorickshaws.



Owner of a footwear shop near German Bakery Santosh Bhosale said, "When I reached the spot, I saw that the vehicles parked nearby were shattered."



Rabbi Bztalel Kupchek was in Chabad House doing his prayers with 10 others when an ear-splitting blast broke their reverie. "Saturday is a holiday for us, so we were in the House doing our evening prayers when we heard this loud noise. We rushed out immediately but were stopped from going outside by police personnel deployed at our place 24X7," said the 52-year-old rabbi. The Chabad House has been under heavy police security for the past few months after it figured as one of the sites on Headley's Lashkar hitlist.



Amrit Sadhna, spokesperson of the Osho Commune, said there were no ashram members at the bakery when the blast happened. "All the roads were blocked but I managed to come in (to the ashram), now no one can enter Koregaon Park," she said.



Source: Indian Express



More on news

Phew. No foreigners. Onlee Indoos. Since foreigners' lives are worth X times that of an Indoo.



The Indian christogovt is relieved that since it looks like only Indoos died, they don't need to do anything. If islamists had died then the christogovt would organise a commission and decide even beforehand that it was a genocide perpetrated by the Hindus against the muslims, and use the commission to "forge proof to this effect".

If some foreigner died, the christogovt would wail and wring its hands and ask for US help and they'd come and reveal nothing of what they find on Indian soil: since Indians don't need to know who the terrorists growing in their midst are.



But if it's just non-descript locals, well then, that HM Chidembarrasment will threaten laughably "Next time Pak! Next time!", shaking his limp fist at them. And then he'll go back to blowing kisses to PoK terrorists, winking at them with his tacky and seriously twisted "Why Don't Ya Come On Over?" routine.





2. Speaking of that dreadfully oogly man Home Minister P Chidembarrasment (sorry, I just encountered a picture of his snooty face): he now finds there is No intelligence failure in Pune blast: PC.

With which he obviously means it was all entirely anticipated (as in, according to his high command's plan) since just a couple of days ago he had *invited* the terrorists of PoK to Please Come And Settle. After all, it appears only locals are dead. Seems to be perfectly in line with Chidambaram's script.



3. Quite shocking that the Indian Express admits (in so many words!) to the existence of - a strong base of - the Indian Mujahideen in Pune:



www.indianexpress.com/news/almost-as-per-headley-script-near-osho-next-to-jewish-chabad-house/579510/

and news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3627615

14/02/2010

Pune blast almost as per Headley script?



New Delhi: As the Centre rushed a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and forensic experts from the CBI to investigate the Pune blast, the probe is being guided by two facts: one, the very neighbourhood in which German Bakery is, was on the surveillance list of Lashkar suspect David Coleman Headley and, two, the Indian Mujahideen has a strong base in the city.



Headley first visited the Osho Ashram in Pune on July 24, 2008. Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, in fact, today referred to that saying that the Osho Ashram -- just yards away from the blast site -- was surveyed by Headley and that the Maharashtra Police had been alerted by the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) about this on October 12, 2009.



Coming 11 days before India and Pakistan engage in Foreign Secretary-level talks, the re-emergence of the Headley connection to today's blast has complicated the environment before the talks.



While the Congress chose a guarded response in saying that continuance of talks was for the government to decide upon, the Opposition BJP made it clear that terror and talks could not go hand in hand.



"I am deeply distressed," said Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was visiting his constituency in Tamil Nadu and is likely to take the flight to Pune on Sunday.

[color="#800080"](No, not a distressed Chidembarrassment! Contorting his oogly face will make it even ooglier - a vision unbearable for the rest of the world to even imagine. I hope someone has a botox shot ready.)[/color]



[color="#0000FF"]Indian investigators have established:

* During his visit to the Osho Ashram, Headley took a pass to attend a meditation session on July 25, 2008, but eventually did not use the pass. The Chabad House (a Jewish Community Centre) located near the bakery is on the list of Lashkar targets provided to Indian security agencies in October 2009 by international agencies.



* Headley again visited Osho Ashram on March 16, 2009 and entered the premises with a one-day entry pass. During this visit, he stayed in Room No 202 of Hotel Surya Villa in Koregaon Park from 6.50 pm on March 16 to 8 am on March 17, 2009.



* While checking out, he cleared Rs 1,248 as his hotel bill in cash and made no phone calls from the hotel. Hotel Surya Villa, too, is located close to the scene of today's blast.



* One of the items recovered from the suitcase, which Headley left behind at the residence of one Bashir Sheikh in Mumbai, was the registration paper of the Osho commune.



Today's blast comes days after suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Shahzad Ahmed was arrested from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. During his interrogation, Shahzad is learnt to have said that IM's mission was to target areas frequented by foreigners. He is also said to have told his interrogators that Commonwealth Games venues were high on IM's hitlist. [/color]



Reacting to today's incident, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "According to India, terror issues were always the prime focus of the talks, even before the blast. While it is for the government to take a final decision (on the talks scheduled for February 25), that focus is certainly sharpened by this incident. Continuance of talks or otherwise is ultimately for the government to decide. But certainly, the shadow is dark and long."



The BJP, on the other hand, said that "(Pakistan-sponsored) terror and talks (with Pakistan) cannot go hand in hand". Said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar:



"This only shows our (lack of) preparedness to tackle threats posed by terror outfits. A large number of policemen, incidentally, were today employed to give protection to theatres running a particular film in Pune." Said BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad:



"The propensity of some Congress leaders to visit villages of terrorists would only encourage terrorists and their patrons. We demand that terror be handled firmly".



Source: Indian Express

Anyway, it appears onlee Indians dead. So please don't disturb Chidambaram as he is going to take a beauty nap. (He needs it.)

[dhu]

I am sure Pakistan is using the threat of larger scale attacks to nudge Kangress on Kashmir concessions. This one was just a pin prick to make MMS move in the right direction.

[Guest]

[quote name='dhu' date='14 February 2010 - 08:28 PM' timestamp='1266159030' post='104210']

I am sure Pakistan is using the threat of larger scale attacks to nudge Kangress on Kashmir concessions. This one was just a pin prick to make MMS move in the right direction.

[/quote]

MMS is already sold out, now he can sleep with peace, coz after a long spell terrorist strike again and only Indians died, no causality from terrorist side.

Day for celebration for MMS.

[dhu]

Sagarika has started speculating about involvement of Sanatan Sanstha. Really, they should not let these opportunities go to waste. There are many more Hindu public figures to blacken. Why go after same ones repeatedly?

[Capt M Kumar]

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urged the government to call off the proposed talks with Pakistan, saying Islamabad still harboured anti-India terrorists.



"Terror and talks cannot co-exist. When terror threatens India, then not talking is also a legitimate diplomatic option," BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said. His colleague Sushma Swaraj echoed the demand.



Jaitley accused the government of taking an unexplained "U turn" on its negotiating stand in the peace dialogue with Pakistan.



The US and Britain quickly moved to ask their citizens in India to be on alert.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article....563&page=3

[Capt M Kumar]

<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/angry.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':angry:' /> MUMBAI

: Even as Maharashtra ATS and Pune police wait for the chemical analysis reports to establish which group was responsible for Saturday’s bomb blast in Pune, Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal, founder-members of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), have emerged as prime suspects.



Sources said the modus operandi of the blast looks the handiwork of IM led by Riyaz Bhatkal, held responsible for at least 11 blasts across the country since 2005. The blasts stopped in 2008 when Mumbai crime branch busted the module and arrested its leading members.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india...574490.cms

[Guest]

No intelligence lapse in Pune blast: Chidambaram

Around 1 to 1.5 kg RDX used in Pune blast: Forensic report

Awaiting evidence in Pune blast: Tharoor

Pune blast happened despite forces being on alert: Antony



Basically, he is telling us, Sorry you are on your own, Good Luck.

What a bunch of moron are these guys.

[Guest]

[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pune-blast-part-of-Lashkars-Karachi-Project/articleshow/5574330.cms"]Pune blast part of Lashkar's 'Karachi Project'?[/url]

PUNE/NEW DELHI: Investigators suspect the blast in Pune on Saturday was set off by Indian Mujahideen as part of the `Karachi Project' - a plot by the Lashkar-e-Taiba involving fugitive Indian jihadis and serving and retired officers of the Pakistan army aimed at keeping up the offensive against India. ( Watch Video )[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videoshow/5574771.cms"]link[/url]



Sources in security agencies believe that the Southern Brigade of Indian Mujahideen which comprises absconding IM terrorists Abdus Subhan Qureshi and Mohsin Chaudhary - a Pune resident - could have been behind the explosion in the landmark German Bakery that left nine dead.



The assessment is based on similarities with other terror attacks carried out by IM which was floated by Lashkar to camouflage its hand in the continued terror campaign against India. The date of the attack is part of the pattern that the group has followed since the serial blasts it engineered in Jaipur in 2008 - that is to strike either on 13th on 26th. The last five major attacks, including 26/11, have happened on these two dates. The only significant deviation was the attack in Bangalore on July 25, 2008.



Second, they have always struck in the evening hours and have involved blasts, with the exception of 26/11 which was a frontal assault by Pakistani gunmen.



But there are other reasons as well why agencies are veering around to the IM angle. The intelligence with them suggests that IM leaders who are part of the `Karachi Project' have been under pressure for sometime to resume their activities. As part of the project, which was revealed by American Lashkar jihadi David Headley to his FBI interrogators, fugitive IM leaders Bhatkal brothers - Riaz and Iqbal - Mufti Sufiyan and Rasool Parti are being sheltered in Karachi by Lashkar. Headley, who recceed Chabad House close to German Bakery, had also told FBI interrogators about serving and retired officers of Pakistan army being part of the project.



Mohammad Amjad Khwaja, a leading IM jihadi from Hyderabad who was lodged in Pakistan by Lashkar as part of the Karachi Project and was recently arrested after reaching here, told his interrogators that he and his associates were shown videos of Pune's Osho Ashram and Mumbai's Blue Synagogue.



The IM leaders could have settled on Pune also because the outfit has always had a strong presence in the city. Some of the prominent ones - techies Mohammed Mansoor Asgar Peerbhoy who headed the `media wing' of the group, Mohammad Atiq Mohammad Iqbal and Anik Shafiq Sayyad, and Anwar Abdulganj Bagwan, an MBBS doctor from a local hospital - are in prison. But Mohsin Chaudhary, known to agencies, along with other foot soldiers from the city and other parts of Maharashtra as well as Karnataka, have so far dodged the police hunt. Union home ministry identified the fugitives on the run as Mohammad Ali, Amin, Irfan and Abu Rashid.



Sketches of the Pune bomber, prepared on the basis of descriptions of those present at German Bakery, are to be shown to IM jihadis in prison.



FBI's chargesheet against Headley also indicates that Pune was in the crosshairs of the Lashkar leadership. In an email to Headley, his Lashkar handler told him, "There are investment plans with me, not exactly at Rahul's city but near that. Rest we can decide when we meet according to your ease." As is known, `Rahul's city' has been established as referring to Mumbai.



Union home minister P Chidambaram's statement on Sunday that India has sought access to Headley acquires significance in this context.



Another pointer to the Lashkar/IM connection is the speech made by Jamat-ud-Dawa's deputy chief Abdur Rehman Makki mentioning Pune along with Delhi and Kanpur as "fair targets" for attacks he said jehadis should launch in retaliation to what he alleged was India's denial of river waters to Pakistan.



Intelligence agencies were intrigued by the reference to Pune as, unlike Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, or for that matter even Bangalore, the city is less likely to figure in the hate speech of a jehadi.



For the same reason, authorities have decided to step up vigil in Kanpur, another entry on Makki's list of "fair targets". Like Pune, Kanpur is also home to militant Hindu outfits, another reason agencies feel why they attract the attention of jehadis.



The IM got a big blow because of the arrest of its senior figures and elimination of others like Atif Amin - who was killed in the Batla House shootout. But agencies feel that those still at large - estimated to be over 20 - remain a threat and are crucial to the execution of Karachi Project. In the north, Arif alias Junaid, who escaped from Batla House, and Mirza Shadab remain active and are expected to carry out an attack on Indore according to Shahzad, the IM member who was recently arrested.



Asked whether the blast could have been carried out by the IM, Union home minister P Chidambaram said, "I am not ruling out anything and not ruling in anything." He also visited the German Bakery on Sunday morning, but refused to pin the blame for the blast on an intelligence failure. "It was an insidious attack, planting a bomb at a soft target establishment," he said.



Intelligence agencies working on the case felt that the likelihood of a local person in the blast appeared remote. "Most pointers to the blast suggest that it is the handiwork of terror elements from outside the city. The incident appears thoroughly well-planned and executed," an intelligence official said.



Two ATS teams questioned at least six persons suspected of having direct or indirect links with the blast. According to sources, the ATS rounded up the suspects at Kondhwa, a senior police officer said.



Sources with the Army's bomb disposal squad have hinted at the possibile use of RDX. ``Our first local tests are hinting at the presence of RDX. We have taken samples after the blasts and carried out tests on them. These tests confirmed RDX - plastic RDX to be precise. It was a blast triggered off by an improvised explosive device (IED),'' the sources told TOI.

[Guest]

[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-had-warned-of-attack-in-Pune-Mumbai/articleshow/5573845.cms"]US had warned of attack in Pune, Mumbai[/url]

[Guest]

[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Unknown-Pak-group-claims-responsibility-for-Pune-attack/H1-Article1-509500.aspx"]Unknown Pak group claims responsibility for Pune attack[/url]

Laskhar-e-Taiba Al Alami, a hitherto unheard terror outfit, on Tuesday claimed it carried out the Pune blast because of India's "refusal" to discuss the Kashmir issue with Pakistan.



The claim was made by a man who called Nirupama Subramanian, the Islamabad-based correspondent of The Hindu newspaper.



The caller identified himself as Abu Jindal and described himself as the spokesman of the LeT Al Alami (International).



The caller claimed his group carried out the attack in Pune that killed nine people because of what he described as India's "refusal" to discuss the Kashmir issue in forthcoming talks with Pakistan.



He also said his group had split from the Laskher-e-Taiba because it "took orders" from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.



The man said India's "alliance" with the US was another reason for the attack.

Asked if there were any other reasons, he said: "These are the only two reasons."

"Joh bhi America ka ittehad hoga, hum uskey khilaf jang ladengey, chahey wo India ho ya Pakistan (We will wage war against any ally of America, whether it is India or Pakistan)," the caller reportedly said.

What a crap and media is buying this?

[Guest]

[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Delhi-student-succumbs-to-Pune-blast-injuries/H1-Article1-509700.aspx"]Delhi student succumbs to Pune blast injuries[/url]

A student from New Delhi, Aditya Jaiprakash Mehta, who was injured in Saturday's terror blast in Pune, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital here early on Wednesday, police said.

According to an official of the Pune Police Control Room, Aditya, 24, was a fourth year student of Bharatiya Vidyapeeth, an engineering college in the city.



Mehta died around 4 am on Wednesday at the Jehangir Hospital here, the official said.

His relatives have already arrived in Pune from New Delhi and the formalities to hand over the body are being completed.



With this, the toll in the blast at Pune's German Bakery goes up to 11. Nine people died the same evening, and one Abhishek Saxena, a student of DY Patil College - succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.



At least 37 more victims are still undergoing treatment in various city hospitals. The bomb in backpacks -- a mixture of RDX and ammonium nitrate -- injured 57 people in all.

The well-known German Bakery in the fashionable Koregaon Park area was packed on the eve of Valentine's Day when the bomb went off.

[dhu]

Associate Editor of The Hindu :



[url="http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article109312.ece?homepage=true"]Hindutva terror probe haunts Pune investigation[/url]

Praveen Swami

In private, Hindus sympathetic to the ultra-right have been saying the bombings demonstrate the moral legitimacy of Purohit and his Hindutva terror project. Even as the police detained more than two dozen young Muslim men for questioning, some community leaders have been arguing that the bakery attack could just have easily been carried out by a Hindutva group.

If Mumbai attacks can be blamed (at the ministerial level) on "Hindutva terror groups", then Pune attacks are obviously small fare. Can't wait for this to gain more traction.