Two men arrested following restaurant bombing in India

The head of Maharashtra state's Anti-Terrorism Squad, Rakesh Maria, said the pair were picked up on Monday and were to be questioned about the blast that ripped through the German Bakery in the western city of Pune, killing 17.

The bombing on Feb. 13 was the first major attack in India since the November 2008 assault on Mumbai, which left 166 dead and more than 300 others injured and led to the suspension of peace talks between India and Pakistan.

New Delhi blames the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) for training and financing the attack.

The Pune blast, which killed five foreign nationals, came soon after India and Pakistan had agreed to resume an official dialogue.

Maria, who led the investigation into the Mumbai attacks, told a news conference in the city that one of the men arrested was “the present LeT chief of Maharashtra.”

The second had “gone for training to Pakistan and has been trained by the LeT in Pakistan” between January 2008 and the early part of this year, he told reporters.

During searches following the arrests, Maria said police found two kilograms of RDX high explosives similar to that used in the blast, bomb-making equipment and manuals, “LeT literature,” mobile phone SIM cards and cash.

“In fact they have recce'd certain sites for the LeT. We have seen photos in the German Bakery case,” Maria said, adding that the plot to bomb the restaurant was hatched in January this year.

The bomb, which was hidden in a bag and triggered by remote control, was put together at an Internet cafe run by one of the men arrested, he added.

Police said the investigation was in its early stages but they have also established links to members of the home-grown Islamist militant outfit the Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed several attacks in India in recent years.

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