Author: Sagnik Chowdhury
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: November 29 2010
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/lashkar-planned-to-bomb-ganesh-chaturthi-in/717446/
Introduction: Let conducted recce of temple,
plan put off after German Backery arrests
The Lashkar-e-Toiba is believed to have planned
another major terror attack in Pune seven months after this year's February
13 German Bakery blast. The target was apparently the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations
at the highly popular Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati temple in September
but the arrest of two men in connection with the German Bakery attack thwarted
this plan, sources have confirmed to The Indian Express.
The two suspected LeT operatives, arrested
by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) just days before the festival,
allegedly disclosed how local operatives were to scout the target and lay
the groundwork for terrorists from across the border to slip into the country
and execute the attack via bombs.
These plans were thwarted when the ATS turned
up the heat in the blast probe. On September 7, the ATS arrested Mirza Himayat
Baig from Mahatma Gandhi bus stand in Pune while his aide Shaikh Lalbaba Mohammed
Hussain alias Bilal, was nabbed from Subash Chandra Bose Marg in Nashik. While
Baig has been arrested for the Pune blast, the latter has only been accused
of planning attacks in Nashik so far. "Besides the German Bakery, there
were three other targets in Pune which had been scouted by LeT's Maharashtra
chief Mirza Himayat Baig and other local associates. One of these was the
National Defence Academy. Another target was the Shrimant Dagduseth Halwai
Ganapati temple," said a senior officer who spoke on the condition that
he should not be identified.
"The temple was chosen as it is a sensitive
religious target which would attract massive attention. Thousands of devotees,
including celebrities, visit the temple during the Ganeshotsav festival. The
local LeT module had conducted a recce of the temple and assessed the security
arrangements there. According to the plan, bombs would be planted by terrorists
from across the border who would cross over through Jammu and Kashmir. However,
following the German Bakery blast and the manhunt launched for suspects, this
plan was abandoned," he said.
Located in Pune's Budhwar Peth area, the temple
was built in 1893 by sweets trader Dagdusheth Halwai on the advice of his
spiritual guru following the death of his son. Along with Mumbai's Lalbaugcha
Raja, it draws the most crowds in Maharashtra during the Ganeshotsav celebrations.
Coincidentally, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch
had issued an alert in September saying they had received intelligence inputs
that two Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) operatives, identified as Kalimuddin
Khan alias Rameshwar Pandit and Hafij Sarif, had slipped into Mumbai to attack
crowded spots and places of worship. The two, it was said, were last seen
in the Lalbaug area close to Lalbaugcha Raja.
