A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the Assembly of the likelihood of a breakthrough in the July 2014 Pune blast, sources in the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) claim that the attack was the handiwork of five suspected SIMI members, who escaped from the Khandwa prison in Madhya Pradesh last year.
The agency has also identified the house where the group had stayed and assembled the explosives, The Hindu has learnt.
On July 10, a low-intensity blast was triggered by an IED in the parking lot of the Faraskhana police station in Pune, near the famous Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh Temple. Five people, including a constable and a woman, were injured.
“We suspect that the blast was carried out by five of the six SIMI men against whom the central agencies recently released a specific alert stating that the group was planning to carry out strikes in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan,” a senior police officer told The Hindu .
The group was part of a module floated by alleged SIMI leader Safdar Nagori, who left the newly formed faction, now known as the Indian Mujahideen (IM). Nagori opted for traditional methods and did not approve of use of technology adopted by the IM.
“We have been able to ascertain their individual roles and even map the entire sequence of events culminating in the blast. The safe house where the explosives used in the blast were assembled has been identified and we are gathering more evidence,” added the officer.
Police claim that the group located a hideout near Satara and even stole a bike belonging to a police constable from outside a local court on June 25. The bike was used to carry the explosives. It is suspected that the group’s initial plan was to attack the temple, but as there was a huge police presence around the temple, the group decided to park the explosives-laden bike in the compound of the police station.
“The interrogation of the arrested Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists has revealed that the temple has been on the hit list of terror outfits. Since then, extensive security has been provided in and around the temple premises. We suspect that the accused looking at the security might have developed cold feet and parked the bike in the police compound,” said another officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
