Four suffered minor injuries in a bomb explosion in the parking lot of a police station in Pune on Thursday.
The bomb was planted on police officer Dada Rasge's bike, which was stolen from Satara on 25 June. It exploded at around 2 pm on Thursday, injuring Manisha Jadhav, Jaswant Singh Mataprasad Singh, Sushant Salunkhe and Akshay Shinde.
After an initial investigation of the crime scene by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), police established a similarity with the German Bakery blast in February 2010.
The explosive was made from ammonium nitrate, seized nails and ball bearings, which police said were used in the 2010 blast as well and suspect terror group Indian Mujahideen's (IM) hand behind the blast, according to the Times of India.
The police station is reportedly 200 meters away from the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh temple, which comes under the target zone of the terror groups. Before the German Bakery explosion, an IM member, Qateel Siddiqui tried to place a bag of bomb at a flower shop, but failed when the owner rebelled.
IM terrorist Yasin Bhatkal had admitted that a plan to attack the temple was disrupted by a flower seller, according to the New Indian Express.
However, the Centre has reportedly refused any involvement of terrorists with the blast, citing that it was a minor one.
The police have expressed uncertainty about the involvement of IM or any other terror group as they are also considering it as a "revenge attack."
They suspect that some group planted the bomb in an attempt to avenge the murder of Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh, who was killed in a rampage in June this year.
The mob along with members of the Hindu Rashtra Sena took to violence after a morphed picture of Chhatrapati Shivaji, late politician and founder Bal Thackeray and other Hindu Gods went viral on social networking sites and WhatsApp. However, Shaikh was not responsible for the circulation of those pictures.
Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil have handed over the responsibility of a further probe of the blast to ATS.
Past Incidents of Bomb Blasts in the City
- On 1 August 2010, four coordinated serial bomb blasts occurred in the city. The bombs planted in four different locations within 700 metres stretch went off one after the other. The first blew near Balgandharva Auditorium, followed by one near Dena Bank, J M Road, then in front of McDonalds and fourth near Garware Bridge. Another bomb was found outside the Sai Service car showroom, however, it was defused by BDDS. Two were injured in the bomb explosion. IM alleged founder Yasin Bhatkal had reportedly planted a bomb in one of the four sites.
- However, the 2010 bomb blast at the German Bakery killed 17 and injured 64. On 13 February, a bomb exploded at around 7 pm in the bakery located in the Koregaon Park area. IM and Laskar-e-Taiba reportedly claimed their involvement in the attack.
Mirza Himayat Baig, Zahid Hussain has been arrested in connection with the bomb blast, however, the other six suspects are yet free. David Headley, one of the accused in the 2008-Mumbai attack was also accused of planning the blast.
