PC denies intelligence failure, Maha ATS takes over blast probe

PUNE: Dismissing "intelligence failure" in the Pune blast, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the terrorists have hit a "soft target" like the German bakery which is frequented by foreigners and Indians alike.

He maintained that the "hard targets" like the Osho Ashram and the Jewish Chabad House located near the bakery had been surveyed by US Lashker-e-Taiba suspect David Headley during his visit to India and the area was "in the radar" of security agencies for some time.

"But apart from hard targets, there are soft targets... All these (the German bakery where the blast took place yesterday and an Italian restaurant nearby) are soft targets where foreigners and Indians congregate especially during the peak hours," he told reporters here after visiting local hospitals to meet the injured in the terror attack.



The Home Minister said the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has taken over the case and constituted teams to investigate the blast.

He announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the families of those killed in the attack.

Terror struck Pune last night as a powerful bomb ripped apart a popular bakery near the Chabad House, killing nine people, including five women and a foreigner, and injuring 45 in the first major attack since 26/11 carnage.

The improvised explosive device, kept in a packet outside the kitchen of the German bakery, exploded at around 7.30 pm when a waiter attempted to open it.