THE PAST SEVEN MONTHS

FEBRUARY 13: A powerful blast rips through German Bakery in Koregaon Park at 6.52 pm, killing nine people and injuring many others. Subsequently, the terror attack left 17 dead and 65 others injured

FEBRUARY 14: Union home minister P Chidambaram, chief minister Ashok Chavan, state home minister R R Patil visit the blast site. Chidambaram maintains it was not an intelligence failure

FEBRUARY 15: Investigating agencies scan the footage recorded by CCTV cameras installed at the entrance of Hotel O opposite the eatery

FEBRUARY 16: A forensic report confirms the use of RDX, ammonium nitrate and petroleum hydrocarbon oil in the explosive

FEBRUARY 18: Investigators seek help from autorickshaw unions to identify a moving autorickshaw captured by the CCTV near the blast site

FEBRUARY 28: ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi appeals to people who visited German Bakery from 4 pm till the time of the explosion to contact the ATS office

MARCH 2: The blast site is cleared by the police

MARCH 6: With not much headway in the probe, investigation agencies hope for a breakthrough from the images of nearly 1,000 people caught on CCTV cameras

MARCH 9: Investigators zero in on a man caught on a CCTV camera who may have planted the bomb

APRIL 7: The ATS submits a preliminary report to the home department assuring a breakthrough. Officials said they were looking for two youths, one from New Delhi and the other from South India.

MAY 12: Officials claim that four prime suspects from southern India fled to Pakistan and that they may ask the Centre to ask Pakistan to help bring them back.

MAY 12: US ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer visits the blast site

JULY 4: R R Patil admits that the probe has been delayed, adding that those behind the blast have been identified and would be arrested

AUGUST 10: Patil claims that the police have the names and addresses of the suspects, but they are untraceable. The suspects would be arrested soon, he says.

SEPTEMBER 3: Patil declares that the names of the suspects involved in the German Bakery blast case would be known after September 10

SAMAD BLUNDER

* On May 24, Abdul Samad Zarar was picked up from Bajpe airport in Karnataka on his return from Dubai by the Maharashtra antiterrorism squad. He was booked in a nine-month-old Arms Act case.

* He is the brother of Yasin Bhatkal, one of the founder-members of the IM and was suspected of being involved in the February 13 blast

* The ATS had claimed a major breakthrough with Samad’s arrest. Union home minister P Chidambaram had complimented the ATS only to dilute the statement later. The minister cautioned the police to verify the facts.

* Samad was subsequently released on July 4 after a court granted him bail on June 15. Additional sessions judge S L Pathan, observed there was no evidence against Samad and that the ATS had never shown him as a ``wanted accused’’ in the 2009 arms seizure case.

Abdul Samad

The Times of India (Pune), September 9, 2010