Pune, February 14: The Pune blast was not the result of any intelligence failure but an “insidious” planting of a bomb in a “soft” target establishment, Union home minister P Chidambaram said today.
After a visit to the blast site here and meeting the injured in hospitals, he made it clear that the area of Koregaon Park, housing Jewish Chabad House and Osho Ashram, had been sensitised by police since it was on the “radar of terrorists” but it was difficult to provide 24/7 security to all soft targets.
Chidambaram said such establishments have to themselves adopt security measures since it was not possible for police to check every person, bag or place at all times.
“There is no intelligence failure, but please remember this is not an overt attack by gunmen. This is an insidious bomb that had been planted in what appears to be a backpack,” the home minister said.
Terming Osho Ashram and the Chabad House as “hard targets”, he said, “But apart from hard targets, there are soft targets…All these (the German bakery and an Italian restaurant nearby) are soft targets where foreigners and Indians congregate especially during the peak hours.”
The home minister said the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has taken over the case and constituted teams to investigate last night’s blast that left nine people dead and 57 injured. He announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the families of those killed in the attack.
The improvised explosive device, kept in a packet outside the kitchen of the German bakery, exploded at around 7.30 pm when a waiter attempted to open it.
Union home secretary GK Pillai said in Delhi that none of those killed was a foreigner.
Pillai said, “None of the bodies of the nine killed has been identified yet as that of a foreigner. Out of the nine, three bodies have been identified which are of Indians. Identification process is still going on.”
He said the injured include four Iranians, two Sudanese, one Taiwanese, one German and two Nepalese.
Chidambaram, who arrived here early morning, told a press conference, “It appears that a person pretending as a customer came to the bakery and left a backpack under a table and left.”
The home minister, who was accompanied by Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, said people who occupied the table died in the blast.
He said forensic experts drawn from Delhi, Pune and the Army were working together to find out the kind of explosives and trigger used in the bomb.
Asked whether any particular terrorist outfit like Indian Mujahideen was involved, Chidambaram said, “We are not ruling out anything and ruling in anything.”
He said it would be premature to comment on the nature of explosives used before investigations were complete.
Chidambaram will be holding a high-level security review meeting after reaching Delhi, sources said.
Chidambaram said American terror suspect David Headley had surveyed the Koregaon Park area, the Chabad House and Osho Ashram in the vicinity of the targeted eatery — German Bakery.
Chidambaram said the attack was aimed at soft targets both Indians and foreigners — who frequented the eatery — and no particular nationality was targeted.
On the possibility of RDX being used in the blast, he said, “We have to wait for forensic report before coming to any conclusion.”
Stating that most of the injured were young people, the minister said, “The targeted bakery was a small place measuring around 350 sq.ft. which could house about 66 people. Unfortunately they were made the soft targets.”
He said initially it was felt that the blast was caused by an LPG cylinder. “But within minutes we knew that it was a bomb in a backpack,” he added.
Chidambaram said it was a standard global practise to inform police if anyone comes across unattended baggage.
“Whether it was a security lapse in the shop was a matter of investigation, he said, adding, “Local police have informed me that they had sensitised the whole area in view of the known targets (Chabad House and,Osho Ashram) in the vicinity.”
–Agencies