‘There was total chaos... some bodies were in pieces’

Saturday’s blast at German Bakery was aimed at foreign nationals in an attempt to draw attention, senior intelligence officials said, report Satyajit Joshi & Yogesh Joshi.

Saturday’s blast at German Bakery was aimed at foreign nationals in an attempt to draw attention, senior intelligence officials said.

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The 25-year-old bakery, located 500 mtr from the Osho international commune, is popular with tourists and expatriate residents.

Police said forensic experts have found the remains of a bag, which they said may have contained the bomb. The bakery is also close to two Jewish buildings, Chabad House and the Synagogue, and Surya Villa, where alleged Lashkar-e-Tayyeba operative David Headley lived during his visit to Pune in July 2008 and March 2009.

When the blast occurred at around 7 pm, the area was bustling with foreigners, said witness Amol Kale, adding: “There was total chaos after the explosion”. Another witness, Vilas Bhilare said: “Some of the bodies were in pieces, we had to collect them in bits of cloth.”

The bakery also sits close to the Police Commissionerate and the army’s Southern Command headquarters. A senior police official pointed out that the bakery has always been a soft target.

A few years ago, German Bakery was reported to be a major centre for the procurement of contraband items. This was the first instance of Pune — a city that attracts thousands of students from around the country — being the site of a bomb blast.