Indian police yesterday probed a deadly restaurant bombing that killed nine people, including two foreigners, amid calls for swift justice and questions over its impact on talks with Pakistan.
The government also asked for access to a US-Pakistani national awaiting trial on terror charges in the US who stayed at a religious retreat near the blast site while allegedly scouting possible targets.
Media reports sought to link Saturday’s bombing at the popular German Bakery eatery in Pune, western India, to previous attacks by an India-based Islamist movement, fearing sleeper cells were now active and further strikes likely.
Police in the case are examining security camera footage and forensic evidence. Explosives hidden in an abandoned rucksack under a table are thought to have been triggered remotely.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for swift, coordinated action “so that the culprits responsible for this heinous act are identified and brought to justice” quickly, his office said pm Sunday.
“We are 100 percent confident of solving the case soon. Various agencies are investigating the matter,” Pune police commissioner Satyapal Singh said.
However, he refused to comment on claims that the Indian Mujahideen, a previously little-known group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in New Delhi in September 2008, could be behind the attack.
The Times of India said yesterday that the bombing, which destroyed the restaurant, should be seen in the context of the resumption of talks between India and Pakistan and a major coalition offensive in southern Afghanistan.
Pakistan-based Islamists “could well be trying to open up a conflict zone on Pakistan’s eastern front, which would deflect attention from them,” an editorial in the daily said.
The bombing — the first major attack since the 2008 Mumbai massacre blamed on the banned Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) — came just a day after New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to resume official talks.
An initial meeting between their foreign secretaries has been scheduled for next Thursday.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has condemned the bombing.
But India’s main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the attack — which triggered heightened security across the country — underscored fears the government had acted rashly in agreeing to resume talks.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said Pune was “a grim reminder about the fragility of our security system, and the adventurous track that we are walking.
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram has declined to speculate on who was responsible, but said the government was “pursuing the case of access to David Headley” as he stayed at the nearby Osho Ashram on a previous visit to Pune.
Headley, 49, is alleged to have identified targets for the LET. He denies the charges.
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