PUNE, India: Twelve people, four of them foreigners, were killed and more than 50 injured when a powerful bomb went off Saturday near German Bakery opposite Osho Ashram in the city’s Koregaon Park area.
The four foreigners killed were women. “The explosives were kept in a bag in the bakery. The nationality of the foreign women killed is not known.” Dilip Band, a senior police officer, told CNN-IBN televison. Most of those killed or injured were foreign disciples of the late preacher Rajneesh. The blast was powerful enough to blow out windows within a radius of two kilometers. The scene of the explosion is close to the military headquarters of the Indian Army’s Southern Command.
Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe said it was too early to say whether it was a terrorist act, but the Press Trust of India news agency later quoted Home Secretary G.K. Pillai as saying: “It’s a terror attack. A CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) team is being sent to Pune.”
The police bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs, fire brigade personnel and the local anti-terrorist squad rushed to the site.
