Pune terror attack kills 9, including 4 foreigners

Pune, Feb 14: India was jolted back to the facing the reality of terrorism that threatens the country when a bomb blast in the city's German Bakery, near the world famous Osho Ashram killed nine people, including four foreigners.

While all the victims to died in the blast were women, the recent reports put up the total number of injured to 50.

The German bakery located in upmarket Koregaon Park was teeming with people blast took place at around 7: 15 pm on Saturday, Feb 13.

This comes as a major reality-check after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in which over 250 people were killed and most of those who were targeted by alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists were foreigners.

The German bakery is similar to the 26/11 attack on Leopold Cafe as both the spots, mentioned in the Lonely Planet magazine, are tourist hot spots.

It should be noted that the American terror link unearthed during the 26/11 investigations, David Coleman Headley, is believed to have conducted a recce of Osho Ashram as well as Chabad House, located right across the road from the bakery.

Initially for about one hours after the explosion, police said that it was an accident caused by multiple gas cylinders blast. Pune Joint Commissioner of Police Rajendra Sonawane later confirmed that it was a bomb blast.

"There was an abandoned bag which seems to have contained some IED (improvised explosive device)," he told the media. Media reports now inform that a waiter in the bakery was the one who opened the bag containing the explosive.

Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team, Intelligence and ballistic experts are investigating into the blast. An alert has been sounded across all state capitals.

Given the condition of the bodies of the people killed in the blast, that left a huge hole in the bakery wall, the authorities are yet to ascertain the nationalities and identities of the victims.

This comes a fortnight ahead of the crucial Indo-Pak talks, which were frozen after the Nov 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. If investigations find Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba's hand behind the blast, the consequences will be big for both the countries and the bilateral ties.

Besides LeT, the possibility of Indian Mujahideen's role behind the attack is also being probed into.

OneIndia News