The low-intensity serial blasts in the Pune city on August 1 were the handiwork of Indian Mujahideen (IM), carried out by the novices recruited to the terror group.
While the blasts were ostensibly being passed of as revenge for the killing of Qateel Siddiqui in Yeravada Jail on June 8, the exact motive of the blasts was to actually do a trial run to examine the capability of the novice ultras for future terror operations in the country.
The state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) as well as the Pune’s crime branch sleuths came across these facts while investigating the serial blasts case, informed sources investigating the case.
The main reason for which these novice were let on their own to carry out the terror operations and were not given training by the veteran IM operatives was the 13/7 serial blasts of Mumbai and the post blasts escape of Yasin Bhatkal, the mastermind of 13/7 blasts, from within the city. This mounted enormous heat on several wanted terrorists forcing them to flee the country, informed sources in the ATS.
In such a scenario, the recruitment of new ultras and giving them a mission to prove whether they are capable of becoming IM members for future terror operations became significant for the most wanted IM terrorists in exile, added the sources.
Moreover, the recruitment of the ultras and just giving a mission to carry out blasts on their own is an easier task than training them for such operations, which then helps the investigators track the entire trail of the conspiracy, asserted the sources.
The investigators admit that though the ultras could be novices in terrorist activities, they might be having criminal cases against them and became the victim of IM’s indoctrination.
Meanwhile, state ATS chief Rakesh Maria, as well as Pune’s police commissioner Gulabrao Pol, remained unavailable for comment.
On Friday, the state police prepared sketches of two suspects believed to have planted the explosives in Pune and these would be circulated among the investigators, informed state Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Dayal.