Mumbai, September 8
The Anti-Terror Squad of the Mumbai police today claimed to have arrested an alleged plotter of Pune’s German Bakery blast along with his aide.

Rakesh Maria, who heads the ATS, said here today that the two were arrested from Pune and Nashik. Maria said some amount of RDX and other incriminating evidence was recovered from the two accused — Bilal Ahmed Ansari and Himayat Baig.

According to Maria, the blasts were planned by Baig and two others — Mohsin Chaudhary and Mohammad Ahmed, alias Shahrukh — at Maharashtra’s Latur in January.

After the conspirators decided to target the German Bakery, a popular hangout of foreigners, Baig arrived in Pune on January 31 to stakeout the area before returning to Udgir in Latur. The conspirators then procured the explosives and packed the bomb which they transported from Udgir early on February 13. The bomb was brought to Pune in the afternoon of the same day and planted at the German Bakery at around 6.50 pm, Maria said.

The police said both Baig and Ansari were college dropouts. Ansari, who helped Baig in collecting details, hails from Solapur but has been living in Pune, Maria said. Himayat went on to get terror organisations like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Indian Mujahideen to join hands and work together.