‘IM Dry Run Outside Temple Days Before Explosion’
Sharad Vyas & Mateen Hafeez TNN
Mumbai: Investigations into the blast at Pune’s German Bakery have established that Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives had carried out a “dress rehearsal” outside the city’s Dagdusheth Halwai temple.
The dummy run took place right outside the temple about three days before an attempted blast at the famous shrine simultaneously with an explosion at the bakery. The explosion at the temple was averted because an alert vendor raised an alarm.
During investigations into the blasts, the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) arrested a suspected IM member Mirza Himayat Mirza Baig.
In his written reply to the legislative council, state home minister RR Patil on Friday admitted that IM operatives carried out a “dress rehearsal” outside the temple. However, he did not clarify if it was akin to a recce or complete simulation of the actual blasts. “One of the accused in the case is jailed in a Bangalore prison and we are seeking his custody,” said Patil.
The request for custody is pending in Delhi’s Tees Hazari Court. In the last week of November, the Delhi police had arrested six suspected IM operatives, including Qateel Siddiqui. In his confession, Siddiqui said the IM had planned to carry out simultaneous bomb blasts at Dagdusheth Halwai temple and German Bakery on February 13, 2010.
“One arrest has been made in the German Bakery blast case. One accused in the temple bomb planting conspiracy case is in the custody of the Bangalore police,” ATS chief Rakesh Maria said.
“The accused, Qateel Siddiqui, visited the temple three days before the blast, and kept his bag with the vendor after purchasing flowers from him. However, on the day of the blast, the vendor refused to keep his bag,” he added.
‘Amravati univ site hackers from Pakistan’
Mumbai: The Maharashtra police have traced the IP address of the computers used to hack the websites of Amravati university and 27 other institutes to Lahore and Karachi in Pakistan. The state home department on Friday informed the legislative council that it is pursuing leads with the help of the Centre. However, the incident has highlighted the need for extending the state’s cyber police network to other parts of Maharashtra. “We are planning to open up five additional cyber cells in other parts of the state,” said minister of state for home Satej Patil.
“The new cells will be helpful in tracking cyber terrorism, theft and virus attacks of various kinds,” added Patil.
The issue was raised by leader of the opposition Vinod Tawde who blamed the government for dragging its feet on the matter. “It has been two weeks since the incident but the government has taken no responsibility,” Tawde said.
The Times of India, March 31, 2012
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