Bengaluru, Feb. 15: Saturday’s blast at Pune’s German Bakery was planned four to five months ago by former officers of the Pakistan Army who are now key members of banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) in Karachi, according to a captured
alleged Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) member, sources said.
Mohammed Amjad, alias Khwaja, an alleged member of terror group HuJI who was arrested by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Colombo last month for involvement in terrorist cases in Andhra Pradesh, told investigators during interrogation that a retired senior Pakistan Army officer and senior LeT members had in a meeting in Karachi last year showed him and three top Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists photographs of the German Bakery and the Osho Ashram in Pune.
Khwaja, 27, of Malakpet in Hyderabad, said the retired Pakistani officer asked him and IM terrorists Abdul Aziz, Ameen Raza Khan and his brother Asif if they could plan attacks on the targets in Pune. "Kuch kar paogey? Kaafi foreigners hain yahan (Will you be able to do something? There are a lot of foreigners here)," Khwaja quoted the ex-Pakistan Army officer as saying.
Their LeT handlers also asked Khwaja and the IM ultras to plan attacks on synagogues, Chabad House and the National Defence Academy in Pune.
Intelligence sources said the information from Khwaja was shared with the Central intelligence agencies and the Maharashtra government well before the terrorists carried out the Pune attack.
Khwaja also said he had met IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal, alias Roshan Khan, alias Shahrukh Khan, and his brother Iqbal at a LeT meeting in Karachi last year. "Riyaz lives in Karachi under the patronage of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. Iqbal is at present located in Dubai.
The brothers identify vulnerable youth from India and recruit them in the IM for anti-India operations," a top police officer said. "Recruits like Khwaja are paid anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 per month, excluding travel and operation costs."
One of the key suspects in the Pune blast, Mohsin Chaudhry, is an IM member and close aide of the Bhatkal brothers. Though Riyaz Bhatkal has been involved in most of the recent terror attacks in India, the authorities are yet to request Interpol to issue a red corner notice against him.
Bala Chauhan