Blasts linked to Pune jail murder?
Investigations into Wednesday’s serial bombings in Pune have revealed that it was a well-planned conspiracy, possibly linked to the killing of Mohammed Qateel Siddiqui, an Indian Mujahideen operative killed inside Pune’s Yerwada jail by two other inmates. Intelligence sources say Siddiqui was apparently eliminated for targeting a religious place during one of the explosions.
Multiples agencies, including the National Investigation Agency and the Intelligence Bureau, have launched a massive probe into the Pune bombings.
“It is possible that the subversive elements wanted to send out a symbolic message by this attack and this is perhaps what explains the low intensity explosions. But the fact that the explosions were triggered within a radius of 500 metres in quick succession on eve of Raksha Bandhan goes on to prove that it was a well planned conspiracy,” a senior intelligence official remarked.
Sources claimed a preliminary forensic examination points towards the use of ammonium nitrate along with “some kind of a gel” in making of the IEDs. The configuration of the explosives and the modus operandi clearly point towards the involvement of the Indian Mujahideen with support from the Simi cadre. Both outfits have a formidable network in Maharashtra, particularly in and around Pune.
The NSG team from its Bomb Data Centre, which visited the blast spots in Pune, has indicated that “the IEDs are very similar in nature to the ones used by the Indian Mujahideen”.
Intelligence sources say the serial blasts is of huge concern, primarily because of the fact that Yaseen Bhatkal the head of Indian Mujahideen in the country is still at large. With IM being the prime suspect behind the explosions, investigators also feel that Bhatkal too would have had a role in planning and execution of the conspiracy.
Senior investigators also suspect that a completely new module of the outfit could be behind these blasts. In recent crackdowns across the country, security agencies have been able to account for a number of key operatives of the terror outfit.
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