New Delhi, Feb. 15: The government is not ruling out a "foreign hand", including a David Headley link, in Saturday’s bomb blast in Pune. "We cannot rule out or rule in a foreign hand at the moment," Union home secretary G.K. Pillai said.
The Centre also appeared to be groping in the dark over the existing Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) terror modules operating in the country. The government indicated that despite having successfully destroyed some terror modules of the home-grown terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, which has links to the LeT, some modules may have been activated during the multiple visits to India by US-based LeT terror suspect David Headley.
Mr Pillai said Headley during his interrogation disclosed details of an ISI-sponsored "Karachi Project" where the "ISI was planning to bring Indians to Pakistan for training and indoctrination and then send them back to carry out terror strikes here". Mr Pillai said the strategy was to point fingers at India and try to show the world that the "terror attacks were the handiwork of Indian home-grown terrorists" and had nothing to do with Pakistan. The security agencies are examining the intercepts of conversations of certain terror modules both prior to and after the Pune blast for leads.
Mr Pillai said that following the recent arrest and interrogation of IM leaders it was found that the "outfit was planning terror attacks across India". Based on this information, the Centre has issued terror alerts for Indore, Delhi and Kanpur. The government has also re-issued alerts for all places visited by Headley in India between 2006 and 2009. The government, meanwhile, claimed that adequate security measures have been taken for the proposed world hockey tournament and the Commonwealth Games, to be held in the country this year. "Last week Scotland Yard had come to review the security plan for the Commonwealth Games and said the plan was satisfactory," Mr Pillai said. He said the Centre has also agreed to provide additional forces to the Delhi police.
While the government is keen to gain access to interrogate Headley, Mr Pillai said certain legal barriers have to be crossed before the Indian agencies move forward in that direction. "We have already asked for access to David Headley. He is currently in grand jury indictment. First we have to file a chargesheet, then move a court for a letter rogatory, and then approach the American court for access to him," Mr Pillai said, adding that due to different legal systems in India and the US Indian investigators have not yet been able to gain access to Headley. Asked whether a major of the Pakistan Army had been present in the control room of the 26/11 terror attackers, he said "there is no such confirmation yet. We have got some reports from the FBI but unless we get voice samples it is difficult to corroborate..."
On the Pune blast case, Mr Pillai said the investigation has begun and that it will take some time to learn which group is responsible. "We may get some results in the next two-three days," he said. "We are looking at the usual suspects. We are also asking people to give us any leads or information they have related to the case," he said.
Asked whether the government had received any intelligence input before the blast, Mr Pillai said the government had some general information which had been duly passed on to the Maharashtra government, but that there had been no specific information about a terror threat to any particular city.
Namrata Biji Ahuja