PUNE, India, 3 October 2006 — Security in the western Indian town of Pune has been beefed up after counterterrorism intelligence intercepted an e-mail sent to a college student in Pune to his Hotmail address. The message, sent by “Imtiaz”, claimed that Pune was going to be the next target of terrorists after the July 11 Bombay train bombings.
“The serial bomb blasts in the trains in Bombay were executed by us,” said the Urdu-language e-mail, according to counterterrorism officials. “And none of us has been arrested by the police. So this time we have targeted Pune, and therefore need your help. There is nothing to fear. Those they have arrested in Bombay had no role (in the bombings), and that was only a drama to show to the country. The real people, the real blast perpetrators are roaming free and living a comfortable life,” the e-mail said.
Investigators traced the sender’s IP address as originating from Mumbra in Thane district. The e-mail address was a Canadian-based Yahoo account under the name of “Alibaba Chippa”. The Pune police are investigating the receiver of the e-mail and all 20 police stations in Pune have been put on alert.
Pune has a large number of defense installations, including the headquarters of the Indian Army’s Southern Command, the National Defense Academy and an Indian Air Force station where the country’s fleet of Jaguar and Sukhoi aircraft are based. Pune is also home to some military ordnance manufacturing facilities.
Police said the e-mail could be a ploy to divert attention of the investigators. The chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), K.P. Raghuvanshi, expressed the same sentiment.
