Pune Blast: Suspects arrested

[ajtr]

Terror alert sounded in Delhi, Kanpur and Indore

In the wake of the Pune blast, an alert was today sounded in three cities, including the national capital, to tighten security following intelligence inputs that terrorists may target public places there.

The alert was issued after a high-level meeting, chaired by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, reviewed the security situation across the country following the bomb blast in Pune blast which has so far claimed nine lives.

After the meeting, Chidambaram met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and briefed him about the developments in the light of the Pune blast.

“We have intelligence inputs that terrorists may target Delhi, Kanpur and Indore. We have shared the information with all concerned and asked the state governments to take necessary action,” a senior Home Ministry official said.

A three-day BJP national executive is scheduled to be held in Indore from February 17.

A general advisory has also been sent to all states asking them to take necessary security steps in crowded localities, railway stations, bus terminals and other public places.

Officials said RDX and ammonium nitrate were used in the Pune explosion and forensic experts were examining the blast site for clues.

Besides Chidambaram, the meeting was attended among others by National Security Adviser Shiv Shanker Menon, Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, IB and RAW chiefs Rajeev Mathur and K.C. Verma respectively and other senior officials.

“The investigation has been started by the Maharashtra ATS, assisted by forensic experts and they are looking into all possible angles,” the Home Ministry official said.

The probe agencies were also examining whether any foreigner was involved in the blast.

“We are not ruling out anything and the probe covers all terrorist groups and suspected persons,” the official said.

Investigators were also examining the CCTV footage of a five-star hotel located just opposite the Pune blast site, though nothing suspicious has been found so far.

“Unfortunately, the German Bakery (where the blast took place) had no CCTV cameras,” he said.

The security agencies were also taking seriously Jamaat-ul-Dawah deputy Abdul Rehman Makki’s statement in Muzafarabad that they would be carrying out more and more attacks in India.

Keywords: Pune blast, terror alert, German bakery, CCTV, Jamaat-ul-Dawah, Maharashtra ATS

 

[ajtr]

They in desperate mood to save the taliban and want them to fall back in the pak territory and now if we stop the composite dialogue the NATO forces in the Astan will be screwed since this is the largest operation since 2001.

We can talk with them, some BS aout Senas, SRK, IPL matches etc, what we nee to continue the talks until the taslibans are screwed. If we maintain our usual gesture for one more time it can happens. Then we can take of that f***** bas****s

Thats all rght that we help NATO force by talking to pakistanis but that doesnt mean that we've to silently take all the blows from pakistan simple reason is that whom we are talking to they themselves are peratrators of terrorism in india.And its the Usa that got bought off the bluff and blackmail of pakistani army that solution of AfPAK lies in india but which in real terms is not.NATO forces being desperate are willing to do any thing to please pakistan to get out of this afpak problem and leave us on our own to fight another proxy war fo another 20 years which for this time wont be confined to kashmir only .it will spread all over india.Coz in past 10 years pakistan has tased blood of indians and this seems too lucrative to them to spread proxy war all over india.

Although the blasts are a tragedy, it's come at a time that favours India ahead of talks with Pakistan. India can now focus its talks with Pakistan on terror, and not leave the opportunity for Pak to get demanding or unreasonable with the scope of discussion. Under the present circumstances, Pak can't dream of resuming the composite dialogue, forget anything else they expect from the talks. However, it can't say no to talks as that would work against it diplomatically.

Tarun, these blast were to test if india wriggle out of dialogue as it did. after 26/11.But the problem hwere is what you will talk to when the opposite party whom you are talking is himself perpetrator of terror ion you.all this shows our weakness and shows that our GOI has ran out of options and its just following wat is fed to it through west.

 

[yostyle]

This is very sad news. It is bad for our economy and prestige. Damn. It is the time to do something and to show the world that we are not cowards and are capable of doing something.

 

[ajtr]

Pakistan want to deflect focus from the LeT to some bogus, amorphous entity in the FATA. Abu Jindal is same guy, the Indian LeT facilitator, who was on the phone with the 26/11 terrorists. so the ground being laid for "Al Qaeda" to be blamed for the upcoming pigLeT/ISI attacks in India. This fits in well with Robert Gates' claims and enables Manmohan singh and company to avoid facing up to pakistani army.

Unknown Pakistani group claims responsibility for Pune blast

German Bakery, the site of the explosion. A Pakistani group known as Laskhar-e-Taiba Al Alami has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast in Pune.

An unknown group calling itself the Laskhar-e-Taiba Al Alami claimed on Tuesday it was behind Saturday’s bomb attack in Pune that killed nine people.

A person who identified himself as Abu Jindal called The Hindu here, described himself as the spokesman of the LeT Al Alami (international), and claimed the group had carried out the attack because of what he said was India’s “refusal” to discuss Kashmir in the forthcoming talks with Pakistan.

The telephone number that showed up on the caller identity carried an area code common to the Waziristan tribal area and Bannu, the adjoining district in the North-West Frontier Province.

When this correspondent tried calling back the number, a recorded voice message said the number was temporarily not in use.

Kashmir jihadists do not believe in India-Pakistan talks on Kashmir and have long said their aim is to seize the State by force from India in order to “liberate” it, which makes the caller’s statement intriguing and difficult to reconcile with the standard jihadist line.

The caller also gave India’s “alliance” with America as another reason for the attack. Asked if there were any other reasons, he said: “These are the only two reasons”.

“Joh bhi America ka ittehad hoga, hum uskey khilaf jang ladengey, chahey who India ho ya Pakistan (we will wage war against any ally of America, whether it is India or Pakistan).”

He said the group had split from the Laskhar-e-Taiba because it took orders from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.

The caller sounded like an educated boy in his late teens or early 20s. He said he was calling from Miramshah in North Waziristan and declined to divulge the name of the group’s leader. Asked how the group had carried out the Pune attack, he said it had its “sources” in India and had activated them to carry out the attack.

 

[ajtr]

India signals change of tack by agreeing to talk despite Pune

NEW DELHI: Amidst growing conviction about LeT's link to the Pune blast, BJP's criticism as well as misgivings in the Congress, the Cabinet
Committee on Security (CCS) on Monday decided to go ahead with talks between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, indicating a significant shift in India's attitude towards bilateral talks.

Naturally, such a big shift wouldn't happen without a debate within the government. As it happens, the decision comes in the face of divisions within the government, and marks a victory for the approach of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his new NSA, Shivshankar Menon. It would appear the government has now come round to the view that pulling out of talks because of Pune would be counter-productive.

New Delhi had suspended all talks with Pakistan since 26/11, and after a gap of 15 months - during which it has insisted that it will talk only if Islamabad was seen to be acting against those in Pakistan mounting attacks on India - has agreed to scheduled secretary-level talks in New Delhi on February 25.Nothing tangible may emerge from this round of talks, but they will nonetheless have symbolic significance. By clarifying that India will talk, New Delhi has conveyed a maturity of approach and a reasonableness that is bound to be appreciated by its western friends and allies.

At another level, the willingness to talk could be seen as New Delhi's acceptance of Islamabad's argument that to call off talks now would be playing into the hands of the terror-mongers who are determined to sour Indo-Pak ties. However, implicit in this acceptance is also a new official admission of ``non-state players'' in Pakistan who are independent of the government, or even if they form some parts of the official machinery, are outside the government's control.

It's felt that Pakistan-based terrorists would continue to attack India with or without talks, so the government did not feel there was any deep case against talking to Pakistan. As a corollary, India doesn't really believe that Pakistan can or will take any significant steps against its terrorists, with or without talks. In this situation, it was felt that talking was a better option, because stopping them would only hand a PR victory to the terror constituency.

After Saturday's blast in Pune, events have taken a sharply different turn, testing India's new approach. India will keep the talks going, but Pakistan can expect a more robust focus on terrorism and almost no room for discussions on Kashmir and water that they want. Pakistan now finds itself forced to agree to "terror talks" as its foreign office spokesperson admitted on Monday.

The talks will also give India the upper hand in leveraging action on terror for talks on issues close to Pakistan's hearts, through sustained engagement. India now intends to hold Pakistan's feet to the fire to take action against terror groups, including LeT and its mother organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

In 2009, the UN Security Council proscribed JuD which prompted a name change - it became "Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool" and then as "Falah-e-Insaniyat" overseeing relief operations during the Swat operation - but its activities continued unhindered. By 2010, that fig leaf was dispensed with, and last week, JuD was back in action, threatening attacks against India, and operating under its own name with impunity.

Pakistan is likely to conclude two things from India's decision to go ahead - first, this would set a precedent for delinking talks from terrorism, and second, they could be absolved from responsibility of actions by what they call "non-state actors".

That would be a mistake, say Indian sources. Nobody in the Indian system believes that LeT is totally a non-state organization, because it continues to receive substantive support from the state agencies. But LeT has been protected even from the US, despite its growing linkages with the Al Qaeda, partly because it has not attacked Pakistani interests and focuses a lot of its activities against India.

India's decision to stay with the dialogue is also related to the fact that Pakistan has been refusing to cooperate on Afghanistan unless tensions with India are defused and Kashmir is resolved. This line, that the road to Kabul runs through Kashmir, is now more or less an accepted truth in the US. By agreeing to talks with Pakistan, India will also rob Pakistan of this excuse.

The earlier Indian strategy was more binary in nature - talks or war. But the new strategy has evolved to a more finely nuanced position, largely due to the experience that Menon brings to the table.

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5578083.cms

India signals change of tack by agreeing to talk despite Pune
Indrani Bagchi, TNN, 16 February 2010, 02:20am IST

NEW DELHI: Amidst growing conviction about LeT's link to the Pune blast, BJP's criticism as well as misgivings in the Congress, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Monday decided to go ahead with talks between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, indicating a significant shift in India's attitude towards bilateral talks.

Naturally, such a big shift wouldn't happen without a debate within the government. As it happens, the decision comes in the face of divisions within the government, and marks a victory for the approach of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his new NSA, Shivshankar Menon. It would appear the government has now come round to the view that pulling out of talks because of Pune would be counter-productive.

New Delhi had suspended all talks with Pakistan since 26/11, and after a gap of 15 months - during which it has insisted that it will talk only if Islamabad was seen to be acting against those in Pakistan mounting attacks on India - has agreed to scheduled secretary-level talks in New Delhi on February 25.

Nothing tangible may emerge from this round of talks, but they will nonetheless have symbolic significance. By clarifying that India will talk, New Delhi has conveyed a maturity of approach and a reasonableness that is bound to be appreciated by its western friends and allies.

At another level, the willingness to talk could be seen as New Delhi's acceptance of Islamabad's argument that to call off talks now would be playing into the hands of the terror-mongers who are determined to sour Indo-Pak ties. However, implicit in this acceptance is also a new official admission of ``non-state players'' in Pakistan who are independent of the government, or even if they form some parts of the official machinery, are outside the government's control.

It's felt that Pakistan-based terrorists would continue to attack India with or without talks, so the government did not feel there was any deep case against talking to Pakistan. As a corollary, India doesn't really believe that Pakistan can or will take any significant steps against its terrorists, with or without talks. In this situation, it was felt that talking was a better option, because stopping them would only hand a PR victory to the terror constituency.

After Saturday's blast in Pune, events have taken a sharply different turn, testing India's new approach. India will keep the talks going, but Pakistan can expect a more robust focus on terrorism and almost no room for discussions on Kashmir and water that they want. Pakistan now finds itself forced to agree to "terror talks" as its foreign office spokesperson admitted on Monday.

The talks will also give India the upper hand in leveraging action on terror for talks on issues close to Pakistan's hearts, through sustained engagement. India now intends to hold Pakistan's feet to the fire to take action against terror groups, including LeT and its mother organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

In 2009, the UN Security Council proscribed JuD which prompted a name change - it became "Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool" and then as "Falah-e-Insaniyat" overseeing relief operations during the Swat operation - but its activities continued unhindered. By 2010, that fig leaf was dispensed with, and last week, JuD was back in action, threatening attacks against India, and operating under its own name with impunity.

Pakistan is likely to conclude two things from India's decision to go ahead - first, this would set a precedent for delinking talks from terrorism, and second, they could be absolved from responsibility of actions by what they call "non-state actors".

That would be a mistake, say Indian sources. Nobody in the Indian system believes that LeT is totally a non-state organization, because it continues to receive substantive support from the state agencies. But LeT has been protected even from the US, despite its growing linkages with the Al Qaeda, partly because it has not attacked Pakistani interests and focuses a lot of its activities against India.

India's decision to stay with the dialogue is also related to the fact that Pakistan has been refusing to cooperate on Afghanistan unless tensions with India are defused and Kashmir is resolved. This line, that the road to Kabul runs through Kashmir, is now more or less an accepted truth in the US. By agreeing to talks with Pakistan, India will also rob Pakistan of this excuse.

The earlier Indian strategy was more binary in nature - talks or war. But the new strategy has evolved to a more finely nuanced position, largely due to the experience that Menon brings to the table.

 

[ajtr]

Let there be no asha for the Pak demon

important to recognise the fact that Pakistan is one of the few places where the army runs the country. The army also owns its economy. This is important since studies have found that a large number of corporates in Pakistan are ultimately owned by the Fauji Foundation (FF), Army Welfare Trust (AWT) Bahria Foundation (BF), Shaheen Foundation (SF), all owned by different wings of the armed forces. At least 70 per cent of the market capitalisation of the Karachi stock exchange is owned by the army and related groups.
Also, a significant portion of its GDP is due to army-controlled entities and one can easily say that Pakistan economy and its army/ISI are synonymous. This implies we should stop talking of a stable Pakistan since a stable Pakistan means multiple attacks on many more cities of India by that rogue organisation ISI which is the core of the Pakistan Army.
Recently some noises were made by a newspaper group as well as Bleeding Heart Liberals (BHL’s) about resuming dialogue with Pakistan. There are three groups in India which are obsessed with friendship with Pakistan. One consists of the oldies born in that part before Partition and who are nostalgic about Lahore havelis, halwas and mujiras. The second category has Bollywood and other assorted groups who look at it as a big market. The third is the candlelight holding bleeding heart liberals who cannot imagine India doing well without its younger brother being taken care of. All the three have been proved wrong but all of them are in the important opinion maker’s role. Shun them, avoid them and ridicule them.
These Wagh Candle Kissers either do not understand the economic power structure of Pakistan or naively hope that it will not be an issue. Their constitution — 1973 version visualises — to quote from its preamble “Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust; wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed.” It is the army which is the chosen instrument to implement the will of the god. This was recently clearly enunciated by its COAS General Kiyani. Protecting Islam and Pakistan is one of the sovereign duties of the armed forces. Recently the UN (appointed by President Zardari) team probing the death of Benazir Bhutto could interview all civil leaders including the PM and president but not the army brass. When the army objected to the Kerry –Lugar Bill the president had to bring in Kerry himself to talk to COAS.
The candle kissers are doing great disservice to India and to Pakistan since that state has visualised itself as the protector and promoter of the God’s vision. One dimension of that vision is to train the suicide bombers to terminate the unbelievers inside and outside Pakistan. The so-called peaceniks naively believe that that army will go away or the foundations of the state of Pakistan will fade away.
When recently the FICCI produced a well-documented study titled “National Security and Terrorism” to deal with terrorism originating from that country, the Karachi Chambers of Commerce protested. And now the candle kissers want to have a business meet at Karachi. We do not know what results such a meet will produce.
Almost all terror attacks in any part of the world in the last decade have a link with Pakistan. Terrorism is funded by Saudi Arabia, planned in London and executed by Pakistani foot soldiers globally. Its strategic ally, namely the USA, wants to body screen every Pakistani entering the US and also wants to open their entire luggage particularly if it has been packed by them. Its other mentor namely Saudi Arabia has a system of issuing visas to Pakistanis after severe verification. China is worried about Pakistani role in the Xinxiang uprising and quietly hangs the rebels, many of them from the PoK. Currently Pakistan is in abyss and it would be beneficial if it is split into many countries — not only for peace in India but also all over the world. The candle kissers are completely wrong in their agenda and timing. One only hopes that the Indian state is not taken in by their sentimental nonsense.
Will the Indian elite go for the jugular or just light more candles and scream at formless /nameless political class before TV cameras? It is going to be a long haul and may be in a decade or so we can find a solution for our existential crisis of being attacked by barbarians from the west. We need to combine strategy and patience and completely throw to the dustbin the ‘Gujral doctrine’ — treating younger brother with equanimity. The doctrine essentially suggests that if we are slapped on both the cheeks we should feel bad that we do not have a third cheek to show. Such is our strategic thinking in this complex world since our political class is not adequately briefed, nor do the elite think through issues.
If we want the world to treat Pakistan for what it is then we should start practising it. Always call it as Terrorist State of Pakistan and never have any illusion that it is going to be different. Completely and comprehensively cut off all our relations with them — economic/cultural/sports and all other aspects. South Africa was treated for its Apartheid; so should Pakistan be punished for practising terrorism as a state policy. Unless we start completely boycotting Pakistan we cannot ask others to do it. Will corporate India start practising it? Then we can see some results in a few years. Otherwise when the next Mumbai attack happens the senile peaceniks may order more candles and try to generate more asha for the demon.

 

[ajtr]

Since when illiyas kashmiri of 313 bdg of pak army got into al-qaida?Iliyas kashmir,azhar masood,omar sheikh are the some examples of lethargic indian judicial system/police and GOI.All these were once caught by indian army in kashmir.

Don't visit India, Qaeda terrorist tells sportspersons

Kashmiri militant Ilyas Kashmiri has reportedly warned the international community against sending sportspersons to India [ Images ] to participate in events like the IPL and Commonwealth Games [ Images ].
Asia Times Online claimed the top guerrilla commander, whose 313 Brigade is an operational arm of the Al Qaeda [ Images ], has vowed to continue attacks across India, while threatening international sportspersons to face the consequences if they chose to visit the country.

"We warn the international community not to send their people to the 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games. Nor should their people visit India -- if they do, they will be responsible for the consequences," it said.

The message that was delivered to the Asia Times Online, comes after the Pune bomb blast that claimed 9 lives, but does not specifically claim responsibility for the incident.

"The message does not specifically claim responsibility for the bombing, but implies the brigade's involvement," the news portal said in a story from Islamabad [ Images ].

The group vowed to continue attacks across India. Kashmiri is believed to have directed Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ] operative David Headley while the latter was planning the terror mission in Mumbai

 

[ajtr]

Gilani offers to step up intelligence cooperation with India

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday offered to enhance cooperation with India in the field of intelligence to avert attacks like the Pune blast that could “further the agenda of terrorists” who were holding the bilateral ties “hostage“.

Mr. Gilani made the remarks during a meeting with visiting U.S. Senator John Kerry, the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He also expressed Pakistan’s “strong commitment to resolve all core issues between the two countries through peaceful means and composite dialogue.”

“The Prime Minister condoled the loss of lives in the recent terrorist incident in Pune and expressed his government’s readiness to enhance cooperation in intelligence fields with India to ward the possibility of any such untoward incident which could only further the agenda of terrorists,” said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s House.

“Pakistan had made progress in bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai incident to justice and was determined not to allow use of its soil for any terrorist activity against any of its neighbours,” Mr. Gilani said.

He said Pakistan stood by the joint declaration issued after his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Sherm el-Sheikh in July last year.

Pakistan has “all along been calling for the resumption of dialogue but unfortunately it was the Indian side which had not found it feasible,” the statement quoted Mr. Gilani as saying.

Mr. Gilani said the Indian government “should realise that continuing (to be) impassive in negotiations between the two countries would only benefit the militants and terrorists who were holding the bilateral relations between the two countries hostage.”

Mr. Kerry and Mr. Gilani held wide-ranging discussions on various issues, including the war on terror and the new US policy for Afghanistan.

Mr. Kerry, who was in New Delhi on Monday, welcomed the upcoming Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan and said there was “tremendous potential for utilising this opportunity for the good of the people of the two countries.”

He expressed the U.S. government’s willingness for facilitating the resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue process in which “all the core issues, including Kashmir and water dispute, can be discussed and resolved by both sides peacefully,” according to the statement.

 

[ajtr]

So Pune attack was not one off incident.if you go by k.subramanyam theory there will be more attacks coming on large scale with more devastating effects than mumbai 26/11.The GOI has put her hands up as clueless person and is being able to come under usa pressure to talk.Robert gates on his last visit to india and pakistan said that it will be hard for india to restrain itself if another attack happened.but then usa had plan to start helmand offensive and it wanted pak army focus in afpak and then all this aman ki asha thing started.and yesterday there was news of capture of taliban 2nd in command in karachi which now being fitered as in news that he was in isi protection for past 8 years. so if one connects the dot.usa want to cut and run from afghanistan by swiftly declaring victory and bribes isi to help.isi offers talibaans 2nd in command capture.in turn usa allows isi to attack india in pune simultaneously informing india that attack is imminent.the tragedy is that indian govt has bought the theory of taliban are common enemy of usa-ind-pak. and pak is victim of terror instead of perpetrator of terror.hence indian govt is helping usa by offering sacrifice of poor indian on streets,but it itself is secured in z plus security.so why will the deathof some indians on street matter to GOI,rather more die of accidents on road diseases etc......

Fasten your seatbelts

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates predicted during his visit to India that the Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LeT, would launch an attack on India to trigger an Indo-Pakistan conflict. While commending India’s restraint following the 26/11 Mumbai attack, he wondered whether India’s patience would endure in that case. The Pune attack signals that this testing moment has arrived for India. It is time for the Indian government, strategic community, media (especially the electronic media) and civil society to carefully assess India’s national interest — because, in all probability, the Pune terrorist attack is likely to be just the first; others, perhaps even more devastating, are likely to follow. Let us for the moment forget the partisan political rhetoric on the foreign secretaries’ talks and concentrate on threats to India and how to tackle them.
The US National Intelligence Advisor, Dennis Blair, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 2 that “Pakistan has not consistently pursued militant actors focused on Afghanistan, although Pakistani operations against TTP and similar groups have sometimes temporarily disrupted Al-Qaeda... Simultaneously, Islamabad has maintained relationships with other Taliban-associated groups that support and conduct operations against US and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forces in Afghanistan... It has continued to provide support to its militant proxies... The Al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban, and Pakistani militant safe haven in Quetta will continue to enable the Afghan insurgents and Al-Qaeda to plan operations, direct propaganda, recruiting and training activities, and fundraising activities with relative impunity.”

American and British forces have launched their biggest operation since 2001 in a place called Marjah in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. The US has every reason to be worried that the Afghan Taliban forces under attack will retreat into Pakistani territory and obtain a safe haven in which to regroup.

When Robert Gates spoke about the LeT triggering off an Indo-Pakistan conflict, he had in mind the precedent of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar being pursued by the Northern Alliance and being cornered in the Tora Bora mountains — only to discover a safe haven in Pakistan in December 2001. At that time the Pakistani army was supposed to block their entry into Pakistan. But General Musharraf withdrew his forces from the border to allow the Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leaders in. He justified his action with the alibi that Pakistan faced a threat from India under Operation Parakram, launched in the wake of the December 13 attack on Parliament by the LeT. In fact that attack was a deliberate trigger to cause an Indian mobilisation, thus providing Musharraf with an alibi. Gates was anticipating that the Pakistani army would again resort to the same trick to create Indo-Pakistanconfrontation that would be an alibi allowing the Pakistan army to let the Taliban retreat into Pakistan to save it from a rout. Ever since the Marjah offensive was imminent, the last few weeks, the US has issued a terrorist threat advisory.

That explains why Chidambaram says there was no intelligence failure. This attack was expected and it is logical to expect more LeT attacks — and probably more severe attacks, sufficiently provocative to create immense pressure on India to retaliate with a military response. Pakistan desperately wants Indian jingoistic rhetoric: talk of military response, our strategists holding forth on a “cold start” and our media screaming for retaliation. They may not need an actual military response; even our politics and media, if sufficiently jingoistic, will be adequate for Pakistan to move their troops away from their western border to the east, allow safe haven to the Afghan Taliban and blame it all on the “Indian threat”.

The next couple of weeks are crucial. Pakistan has to generate its alibi well before the Afghan Taliban are pushed across the border. The LeT will have prepared contingency plans for attacks on Indian targets and developed the appropriate sleeper cells to carry them out. In this respect David Headley will be a valuable source of information. The closest coordination between Indian and US security agencies is called for to assess the possible targets, the nature of the attacks and their intensities. It is not only necessary for Indian and US security agencies to cooperate but also to be seen to be cooperating.

Will the Americans allow themselves to be taken for a ride for a second time and allow the Afghan Taliban to escape? If so, then there is no way the surge strategy will work, and the US and NATO will have to purchase reconcilable Taliban and ensure they stay purchased. The latest US Quadrennial Defence Review (QDR) says that “the first (objective) is to prevail in today’s wars” — the first time this objective has appeared in a QDR. “Achieving our objectives in Afghanistan and Iraq has moved to the top of the institutional military’s budgeting, policy, and programme priorities. We now recognise that America’s ability to deal with threats for years to come will depend importantly on our success in the current conflicts.”

In other words, if the Americans do not win this campaign in Afghanistan they can forget about not only being a preeminent economic and technological power but a preeminent military power. They will have been defeated not by the Taliban — but by the wily ISI, that they themselves trained in the 1980s. Will that be acceptable? The Pakistanis will have reversed the results of the 2001 campaign, restored the Taliban to Afghanistan, sustained the LeT threats to the US homeland and perhaps kept alive Osama bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri.

India should not walk into the Pakistani trap. Can the government of India afford to do so?

The writer is a senior defence analyst

 

[Pintu]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/528723_Death-toll-rises-to-15-in-Pune-German-Bakery-blast

File photo of Police inspecting remains of the bomb
blast in Pune. PTI Photo

Death toll rises to 15 in Pune German Bakery blast

STAFF WRITER 15:52 HRS IST

Pune, Feb 21 (PTI) Two more persons - both students - succumbed to their injuries in a hospital here today, taking the death toll in the February 13 terror attack on the German Bakery to 15, hospital sources said.

The deceased, 23-year-old Rajeev Agarwal - a student of Symbiosis, and 24-year-old Vikas Tulsiyani from D Y Patil college, hailed from Kolkata and Delhi respectively, they said.

The parents of both the deceased had already arrived in the city to complete the formalities, they said.

Over 50 persons were injured in the explosion that shattered the popular eatery in the Koregaon Park area.

Two siblings hailing from Kolkata - Anandi (19), a student of BA first year at Fergusson college here and Ankit Dhar (23) hailing from Kolkata, were killed in the blast on the same day.

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ve-helped-avert-blast/articleshow/5681461.cms

'Bakery staff could have helped avert blast'
Asseem Shaikh, TNN, Mar 14, 2010, 06.16am IST

PUNE: The unclaimed bag, which contained the bomb that went off in German Bakery on February 13, lay ignored for over 90 minutes after it was first spotted, said Pune police commissioner Satya Pal Singh on Saturday.

The blast could have been averted had the bakery staff and customers alerted the police about the bag, the police chief said. “The unclaimed bag was lying in the bakery for 90 minutes. There was time for the staff and customers to alert the police,” Singh told TOI.

Police investigations have revealed that it was this blueand-red bag which contained RDX, ammonium nitrate and petroleum hydrocarbon oil. Singh had earlier said that there were indications that the explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device and had cited expert opinion that it may have been activated from a location not far from the bakery, may be across the road.

Singh said that a waiter had spotted the bag and had informed the cashier about it. Some customers too had alerted the cashier about the presence of the bag, he added.

“But the cashier was busy counting money. It was after a considerable delay that he asked a waiter to check the bag, but it was too late and the blast took place at 6.52 pm,” Singh said. Investigators have zeroed in on a man who they suspect could have planted the bomb. With the help of CCTV images, the police have prepared a sketch and circulated it in Pune as well as among other investigating agencies across the nation, sources said.

 

[gogbot]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ve-helped-avert-blast/articleshow/5681461.cms

'Bakery staff could have helped avert blast'
Asseem Shaikh, TNN, Mar 14, 2010, 06.16am IST

PUNE: The unclaimed bag, which contained the bomb that went off in German Bakery on February 13, lay ignored for over 90 minutes after it was first spotted, said Pune police commissioner Satya Pal Singh on Saturday.

The blast could have been averted had the bakery staff and customers alerted the police about the bag, the police chief said. “The unclaimed bag was lying in the bakery for 90 minutes. There was time for the staff and customers to alert the police,” Singh told TOI.

Police investigations have revealed that it was this blueand-red bag which contained RDX, ammonium nitrate and petroleum hydrocarbon oil. Singh had earlier said that there were indications that the explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device and had cited expert opinion that it may have been activated from a location not far from the bakery, may be across the road.

Singh said that a waiter had spotted the bag and had informed the cashier about it. Some customers too had alerted the cashier about the presence of the bag, he added.

“But the cashier was busy counting money. It was after a considerable delay that he asked a waiter to check the bag, but it was too late and the blast took place at 6.52 pm,” Singh said. Investigators have zeroed in on a man who they suspect could have planted the bomb. With the help of CCTV images, the police have prepared a sketch and circulated it in Pune as well as among other investigating agencies across the nation, sources said.

It could have very well been a suicide attack.

Security Agencies need to be held to account. as why RDX was even available for the Bastards to use.

More stringent intelligence is needed

 

[ajtr]

Missed Clues in Bomb Plot

Officials now think a terror suspect in custody in Chicago could have prevented a bombing in India that killed 16 people. Philip Shenon on the most important investigation since 9/11.
American officials fear they missed clues in a Chicago terrorism investigation that might have prevented a bombing last month in India that killed 16 people and has threatened to inflame tensions with India’s nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan.
India has blamed the Feb. 13 bombing in the bustling eastern Indian city of Pune on the Pakistani terrorist network linked to the 49-year-old Pakistani-American from Chicago, David Headley, who has been in custody in the Windy City on terrorism charges since last fall.
The son of an American mother and Pakistani father, Headley is accused of visiting India and Europe to help select targets for the terror network, known as Lashkar-e-Taiba, including targets for the November 2008 siege in Mumbai in which more than 170 people were killed.
“Our people did gulp after the bombs went off in Pune,” an American diplomatic official told The Daily Beast. “The question is whether Headley is really telling us everything he knows—if he’s holding something back.”
Headley paid mysterious visits to Pune, India’s eighth largest city, in 2008 and again last year.
The bombing in Pune, where several large multinational companies have their offices, was carried out at a Western-style bakery popular with foreign visitors. Of the dead, five were foreigners. (Although Americans were regular customers in the bakery, there were no U.S. victims in the blast.)
American law-enforcement and diplomatic officials say they are now trying to determine if Headley, who had recently been cooperating with the investigation, shared all he knew about plans for an attack on Pune—and whether all that information was passed on to Indian authorities.
“Headley is supposed to be cooperating with Justice,” said an American diplomatic official in Washington, referring to the Justice Department. “But our people did gulp after the bombs went off in Pune,” he said. “The question is whether Headley is really telling us everything he knows—if he’s holding something back.”
He said that “India has a right to ask if Headley knows anything that will prevent other attacks” that may now be in the planning.
Officials say that the case against Headley is shaping up to be one of the most important terrorism investigations since the 9/11 attacks, if only because they believe Headley was so central to a terrorist network that was ready to kill Americans abroad—and potentially, at home.
It comes at a time when U.S. officials are going public with their concern that American Muslims and others are being recruited into terrorist networks, including al Qaeda.
In a speech Friday in Los Angeles, the United States ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, outlined a “nightmare scenario” in which a large number of people with American passports trained abroad as terrorists and then returned home.
“They can easily infiltrate back into the United States and, frankly, we don't know what to do about them," she said, according to the Associated Press. "We think there are more out there than we know about."
American officials say it is not fully clear when Headley might have been recruited by Lashkar-e-Taiba. In 2006, he changed his name from Daood Gilani, which American officials say was an effort to avoid scrutiny when he traveled abroad on his American passport.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which translates as Army of the Righteous, has called for the creation of an Islamic state throughout South Asia. The group is believed to have support among Islamic militants within the Pakistani military.
While it has mostly targeted India in the past, Lashkar-e-Taiba has appeared eager in recent months to attack foreigners, especially Americans and other Westerners, in part in response to American drone attacks on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.Late last year, several of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s operatives in Bangladesh were arrested on suspicion that they were plotting to blow up the American and British embassies there. In the Mumbai attacks, six Americans were killed.
In a sign of the importance of the Headley case, the United States Attorney in Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald—best known nationally for the so-called Plamegate leak investigation of Bush administration officials—has quietly taken personal control of the investigation.
Headley has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges, although law-enforcement officials say he is attempting to negotiate a plea agreement that would require him to continue offering detailed information about the workings of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Headley’s lawyer, John T. Theis of Chicago, told The Daily Beast that he could not comment on the status of any negotiation with the Justice Department, other than to say: “Nothing is imminent.”
He said that Fitzgerald’s decision to handle the case personally “spoke to the importance of the issues involved in the case.” Fitzgerald’s spokesman had no comment on the status of the investigation.
The prosecution is complicating relations between the United States and the governments of India and Pakistan, and between those two nuclear-armed South Asian rivals.
The bombing in Pune came only hours before India and Pakistan were to resume high-level negotiations aimed at easing tensions between the two countries.
The Indian government has demanded access to Headley to determine if he has information that could preempt other attacks.
Indian officials also want to understand Headley’s past relationship with the United States government and whether he was some sort of double agent who duped American law-enforcement.
American officials have confirmed that Headley became an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration in the 1990s after his arrest for smuggling heroin from Pakistan.
Pakistan has much to fear from the investigation. Its government is alarmed by allegations, widely reported in the Indian press, that Headley has fingered several senior Pakistani military officials as being tied to Lashkar-e-Taiba.
At the same time, law-enforcement officials say, Headley offers an extraordinary opportunity for the United States, since he appears to have detailed knowledge of the leadership structure of the Pakistani terrorist network and claims to be willing to share it.
“When this whole story is told, you’ll learn that this case has made a very valuable contribution to American national-security police,” a law-enforcement officer said cryptically. “If this is done right, we’ll going to be saving some lives here.”
Philip Shenon, a former investigative reporter at The New York Times, is the author of The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation.

 

[ajtr]

Pune blast key conspirator identified, says ATS

Yasin Bhatkal, believed to be a relative of Indian Mujahideen founder Riyaz Bhatkal, has been identified by the Maharashtra ATS as one of the main conspirators of the Pune bomb blast in which 17 people were killed.

Indian Mujahideen is suspected to be behind the February 13, 2010 blast in Pune’s Koregaon Park area, an ATS source said.

The ATS, which has submitted a preliminary report on investigations into the terror attack — the first after 26/11 — has claimed that the suspects have been identified and they would be arrested soon.

“One of the prime suspects has been identified as Yasin, who hails from Bhatkal village in Karnataka. We believe he is related to Riyaz, who is absconding,” the source said.

The investigating agency, in its report, has identified four more suspects involved in the blast, the source said, adding they include the planters of the bomb— laden bag which went off in German Bakery.

Home Minister R.R. Patil had on Tuesday told the Legislative Council the suspects would be arrested in a few days and more details would be disclosed at a later stage.

A powerful blast had ripped through the bakery, a popular eatery for foreigners near the Osho Ashram, on February 13. The deceased included four foreigners.

Indian Mujahideen has been blamed by the police for a string of bomb blasts across the country since 2006. Twenty two of its members have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in blasts at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and for planting explosives in Surat.

 

[ajtr]

Pune bombing suspect held​

Praveen Swami
NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra anti-terrorism police are questioning a Karnataka resident they say may have been involved in February's bombing of a café in Pune, and in jihadist networks which have executed a series of urban bombings across India bombings since 2005.

Mangalore resident Abdul Samad Bawa was held by the Maharashtra police soon after his return from the United Arab Emirates, and flown to Mumbai for questioning. Government sources said India's intelligence services had worked closely with their counterparts in the UAE to secure Mr. Samad's return to India.

Police have been seeking Samad's brother, Mohammad Zarar Siddi Bawa, on suspicion that he may have played a central role in executing the German Bakery bombing.

Investigation sources say informants identified an individual filmed by the café's closed-circuit camera as Bawa. Bawa, also known as 'Yasin Bhatkal', has been named as fugitive by authorities involved in the prosecution of members of a jihadist network called the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which carried out multiple urban bombings nationwide.

Samad, intelligence sources said, had flown to Dubai on March 25.

 

[Rage]

Bomb fabricated at Baig's cyber café and taken to Pune: ATS

September 9, 2010


Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday announced an award of Rs. 5 lakh for the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad team which cracked the German Bakery blast case by arresting Mirza Himayat Baig (29) from Pune and Sheikh Lalbaba Mohammad Hussain Farid alias Bilal in Nashik.

Declaring the case "solved," Home Minister R.R. Patil said: "I congratulate the Maharashtra ATS and other national agencies involved in the investigation. The Chief Minister will soon felicitate the ATS team."

Narrating the sequence of events before the February 13 blast, ATS chief Rakesh Maria told presspersons here that the conspirators Mohsin Chaudhary, Mohammad Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin alias Shah Rukh and Baig brought the explosives to Global Internet Café, run by Baig at Udgir in Latur district, between 1 and 5 a.m. on February 7 and fabricated the bomb there. On February 13, Yasin and Baig, carrying the bomb, travelled to Pune by bus, and planted the bomb in the bakery. However, the CCTV in the bakery did not capture Baig. Mr. Maria said the person in the footage was Yasin as he entered the bakery, while Baig waited outside.

The ATS chief said the accused used a Nokia mobile alarm to set off the bomb, which went off around 7.30 p.m.

Baig was previously involved in two cases — one a 2008 UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) case of the ATS in Pune and the other under the Arms Act. He had gone to Bhatkal for training. Iqbal and Riyaz Shahbandari — known as the Bhatkal brothers — sheltered him when he was on the run for his involvement in the two cases, Mr. Maria said.

"He is from the original Fayyaz Qazi and Zabiuddin Ansari module, which was involved in a May 2006 arms haul case [in Aurangabad]. He was part of that group," the ATS chief said.

Originally a resident of Beed district in Maharashtra, Baig settled in Udgir. He failed in the B.A. second year examination. He was close to Fayyaz Qazi and Zabiuddin Ansari.

Reconnaissance

Bilal (27) was arrested at 8.45 p.m. on Tuesday from Ashoknagar, Satpur in Nashik, for doing a recce of vital government installations there. He was a resident of Hotgi in Solapur district. He set up an Indian Mujahideen sleeper cell in Nashik and was trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan from January 2008 to early 2010.

"In these two years, he did not officially come back to India. But according to our information, he crossed the border thrice — twice via Bangladesh and once via Nepal. He has failed in B.Sc. first year examination," Mr. Maria said.

The ATS seized from Bilal two kg of RDX, LeT literature, soldering wires, cutters, booklets on bomb-making, SIM cards, fake documents used for getting SIM cards, mobile phones, pen drives and $1,300 and Rs. 10,500 in cash. "He has got the U.S. dollars from Pakistan," ATS officer Sukhwinder Singh said.

According to the ATS' preliminary information, Bilal was not directly involved in planning or executing the bakery blast. "His prime objective was to recce government buildings. He carried many fake documents. He also possessed a driving licence, a residential certificate and other documents all under fake identities," Mr. Maria said.

Police custody

Baig was produced before a court in Pune on Wednesday afternoon and was remanded to 14-day police custody till September 20. A Nashik court remanded Bilal to police custody till September 14.

The ATS is on the lookout for Mohsin and Yasin. The probe took ATS teams to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi.


The Hindu : News / National : Bomb was fabricated at Baig's cyber café and taken to Pune: ATS

 

[The Messiah]

He should get death sentence.

 

[Pintu]

Hang Bilal if he is guilty, say parents - The Times of India

Hang Bilal if he is guilty, say parents
Suryakant Asabe, TNN, Sep 9, 2010, 12.44am IST

SOLAPUR: "We don't want a son like him. The government should hang him immediately for conspiring against the country where he was born. We hear that he may be involved in the German Bakery blast. If he is, did he not realise that those who died were his own countrymen?" was the anguished cry of 66-year-old Mohammed Hussain Shaikh, Lal Baba alias Bilal's father.

Bilal's arrest by the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) in a Nashik case and for conspiring to strike terror in Maharashtra on Tuesday has stunned his parents.

The state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) is probing Bilal's links with Himayat Baig, the main suspect in the February 13 German Bakery bomb blast case. Baig was arrested on Tuesday and his interrogation led to the subsequent arrest of Bilal in Nashik. The ATS is checking whether Bilal was also involved in the blast.

Bilal is the Shaikhs' youngest son. His father an assistant sub-inspector from the railway protection force retired in 2004. Bilal left home in Hotgi village, about 12 km from Solapur, six years ago to "go to Dubai".

"Since then, we have had no clue about his whereabouts. He never called or wrote to us in the past six years. We tried to locate him in Dubai, but we had no contact numbers," Mohammed Shaikh told TOI on Wednesday.

"We never thought he would do something like this. We came to know only from the media about his arrest and were shocked," Shaikh said.

Bilal's elder brother Sameer (29) works in a garment company in Solapur taluka. The family lives in a two-room home located at Badi Ves at the far end of Hotgi village which has a population of about 12,000.

"Bilal completed his school education from Pangal high school and studied up to standard XII at Social college in Solapur. He then left home saying that he was going to Dubai. He took his photographs, his identity proofs and relevant documents with him," Shaikh said.

Bilal's 50-year-old mother Nasim Bano (50) said her son's arrest was a huge shock. "I never dreamed that he would get involved in such activities. If he did it because of his friends, he should have realised that they were leading him down the wrong path. I don't want him back, Let them hang him if he is involved in anti-national activities," she said.

"Henceforth, I am going to tell people that Sameer is my only son. His father served the railway police with honesty and dedication and now Bilal has brought disrepute to the family," she said.

 

[Pintu]

Udgir residents throng internet cafe - The Times of India

Udgir residents throng internet cafe
Syed Rizwanullah, TNN, Sep 9, 2010, 12.44am IST

AURANGABAD: A sleepy town in Latur district, Udgir, which is situated on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, was in for a shock on Wednesday when reports started pouring in that the German Bakery blast conspiracy was hatched in the town at the Global internet cafe.

According to the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), the internet cafe was being run by the main suspect, Himayat Baig, when the conspiracy was planned there in January last. Baig, who obtained a B.Ed degree from a Pune college a few years ago, had started the internet caf? about one-and-a-half years ago, it added.

Also, the ATS said, the improvised explosive device ( IED) used to trigger the blast was made at the internet cafe by Baig and two others Mohsin Chawdhary and Shaikh Lal.

On Wednesday, the internet cafe was functioning normally till around 3 pm. However, when reports about Baig's arrest in Pune started pouring in, people started crowding around Sunil Trade Centre, the municipal council shopping complex where the Global internet caf? is situated.

Only after people started thronging the shopping complex, its present owner Syed Shoeb came to know about the arrest and why his cafe had suddenly caught attention of the people. Shoeb said he bought the shop just a few days ago, but did not say from whom. "When Shoeb saw the number of people increasing around his shop, he downed the shutters and left the place," said Nagnath Sankaye, a local scribe.

Abdul Aziz, a senior citizen, said, "I came to know about the internet cafe and its involvement in the blast through TV news. It's really shocking that Udgir's name has appeared in the news for all the wrong reasons".

The local police, too, were caught unawares. "Himayat was not on our record," said the deputy superintendent of police (Udgir), Ramesh Kantewar. The situation in the town was peaceful and normal. The local police were not aware about the action the ATS had taken in Pune, he added.