Lashkar signature in bakery blast

The target, the nature of explosives and the execution of the German Bakery blast carry the signature of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Intelligence agencies believe the operation was carried out with the assistance of either the underworld or the remnants of the Indian Mujahideen.

This, along with the increase in violence and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010, is expected to mount fresh pressure on the Manmohan Singh government for a rethink on foreign secretary-level talks with Islamabad. Over the next couple of days, the government could point fingers at the LeT.

“The target selection was perfect — easy access, the right mix of people and the resultant international attention,” an intelligence source said. That the area had been surveyed by David Coleman Headley only adds credence to the LeT theory.     

The explosive—a mix of RDX and ammonium nitrate—too has been a preferred combination of the outfit in recent years. Earlier, it used to smuggle in the entire explosives consignments from across the border; now it assembles bombs with locally available material.

Another source said the device might have been planted at the site by a couple of locals. Investigators are trying to establish the identity of these locals, who in all probability are from either the Indian Mujahideen or the underworld.

 “The blast bears the signatures of LeT,” a senior intelligence official said, adding that the investigators are looking at the details of all calls made in the area before and after the blast, available CCTV footages, and also interviewing those who were in the bakery at that time. The effort is to first identify the bombers.

The official admitted that they have had no clear warning of such an attack, other than “vague inputs” from interrogation of some recently arrested terrorists, and inputs from various intercepts and US agencies. But they were not “sufficient enough” to deduce that a soft target like the bakery could be on the hit list.

Based on Headley’s interrogation, the government had put over 10 Chabad Houses in India on high alert; security had been beefed up on possible targets.

“Our problem is that we do not have credible information flow from LeT and other terror groups. We are heavily dependent on technical inputs, which are increasingly scarce, or what the US agencies are telling us. That is not sufficient,” the official said.