Pune blast case: Cops fail to make much headway

Pune: Investigating agencies have not been able to make any breakthrough in the German bakery blast in Pune even one month after blast in which 17 people died and 60 others were injured.

Now police are putting the onus on the people of Pune for their security.

"The bag carrying explosives was lying under the table for 1.5 hours. A waiter raised alarm but nobody reacted. Why didn't anybody inform the police in time? Is it only the policeman's job to be alert? Why is everyone sleeping?" said Pune Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh.

The Maharashtra ATS has questioned more than a 100 people and despite tall claims on investigations being on the right track, the agency has made little progress or has little to show.

So far ATS has scanned scores of previous blasts' suspects and questioned over 140 people but no arrests have been made.

Several sketches have been prepared based on eyewitness' accounts but the faces of the perpetrators are still unclear.

Forensic reports conclude that a mixture of RDX, ammonium nitrate and petro hydrocarbon oil was used in the bomb, and a mobile phone was used to trigger the blast.

Close to 250 numbers were monitored for suspicious international calls made before and after the blast

Three clips of CCTV footage showing suspicious movements of a duo minutes before the blast were checked but the identity of the duo continues to be a mystery.

While three unknown groups seems to have claimed responsibility, it is believed, the attack was planned and executed by Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) off shoot - the Indian Mujahideen with support from across the border.

According to the sources in the ATS, the terrorists appear to have improvised their modus operandi by using multiple operatives to execute each task independently and by using fresh recruits for the job making it difficult for the investigators to track them down either through the fugitives already under arrest or those under watch.

While Pune may have returned to normalcy for the ATS road ahead is anything but easy. With fresh terror alerts being issued regularly, the onus on ATS to crack the case only increases by the day.