Seven months after Pune’s German Bakery blast, the state’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has claimed a major breakthrough with the arrest of two alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) members.

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One of the arrested duo — Mirza Himayat Baig, 29, and Shaikh Lal Baba Mohammad Hussain Farid, alias Bilal, 27, — had undergone extensive training in Pakistan, similar to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the 26/11 terrorist, the ATS claimed on Wednesday.

On February 13, a bombblast at the bakery killed 17 and left 56 injured. The dead included foreign nationals. The ATS said the blast was carried out by the LeT members.

Baig is the Maharashtra chief of the outfit, who is also responsible for the merger of LeT modules with the Indian Mujahideen (IM).

Interestingly, an officer from the ATS said that one of the arrested accused has undergone extensive terror training in Pakistan. “The training was similar to what Kasab had undergone,” he said. ATS chief Rakesh Maria said: “Success was achieved on Tuesday when Baig was arrested from the Mahatma Gandhi bus stand in Pune’s Camp area around 3.15pm.” He added: “His aide Bilal was nabbed around 8.25pm from Subhash Chandra Bose Marg in Ashok Nagar area of Satpur in Nashik on Tuesday.” Baig, originally from Beed, was residing at Udgir in Latur district while Bilal is a resident of Godgi in Solapur.

ATS investigations so far suggest that the conspiracy was hatched in early 2010. “In the last week of January, a meeting was held at Udgir. It was attended by Mohsin Chaudhary, Mohammad Ahmed Zarar Sadibappa alias Shahu alias Yasin, and Baig,” Maria said. Both Chaudhary and Yasin are absconding members of Indian Mujahideen.

Baig, Maria said, came to Pune on January 31 and did a reconnaissance in Pune and returned. “Since Baig had studied in Pune, he was assigned to decide on the location, identify a place where there were crowds and which was also frequented by foreigners. He gathered the information about the target,” he added.

On February 3, another meeting was conducted at Udgir and the plans were finalised by February 7. Chaudhary had brought the explosives and the bombs were prepared in the intervening night of February12-13 at the internet cafe of Baig in Udgir.

“Baig and Yasir had left for Pune in the early hours of February 13 and reached there in the afternoon. While Baig decided to stay outside the bakery, Yasin went inside and planted the bomb. After the blast they went to hiding in Udgir. A mobile alarm timer was used to trigger the RDX-laden bomb and the image of Yasin was caught by CCTV camera at the eatery. Bilal was also involved in the conspiracy and was a close associate of Baig,” Maria said.

While Baig was arrested in the Pune blast case, Bilal’s role in the case surfaced after his arrest in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case in Nashik. “After Bilal’s UAPA custody gets over, he will be arrested in the Pune blast case,” said deputy commissioner NC Reddy.

“We have seized 2kg of RDX, soldering wires and cutters, LeT literature, bomb-making manuals, $1,300, Rs10,000 in cash, SIM cards procured with fake names and papers, mobile phones and a pen-drive,” said deputy commissioner Pradeep Sawant.