German Bakery blast convict: Who is Mirza Himayat Baig?

A Pune court today convicted Mirza Himayat Baig, the only man arrested for the German Bakery terror attack in Pune. He will be sentenced on 18 April. But who is Himayat Baig and what was his role in the blast? During the  February 2010 German Bakery bombing, 17 people were killed and 64 injured at the popular eatery in Pune. Baig was arrested in September that year. Investigators said they found 1,200 kg of explosives at his home in the Latur district of Maharashtra. [caption id=“attachment_699216” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Himayat Baig.[/caption] Maharashtra’s anti-terrorism police had filed charges against the alleged perpetrators of bombing of the German Bakery in 2011. But Baig was only one of the eight suspects to have been apprehended. Earlier in 2007, he had been arrested by the Pune police for possession of firearms. The absconding accused are Ahmed Siddibappa Zarar alias Yasin Bhatkal, Mohsin Choudhary, Riyaz Ismail Shabadri alias Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Ismail Shabadri alias Iqbal Bhatkal, Fayyaz Kagzi alias Zulikar Fayyaz Ahmed and Sayyad Zabiuddin Sayyad Zakiuddin alias Zabi Ansari. The charges against Baig were filed under sections 120(b), 302, 307, 435, 153(a) and (b), 465, 467, 474 and 478 of the IPC; 10(a) and (b), 13(1), 13(2), 16(1)(a), 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA); and 3, 4(a) and (b) and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act. The Pune chargesheet stated that Baig met with two childhood friends at a Colombo hotel in March 2008 and planned the attack. According to a report in The Hindu, Baig comes from a poor family, who made their living by selling fried snacks. The accused reportedly used funds provided to him by his handlers to set up an internet café in Udgir. The chargesheet alleged that Baig communicated with his handlers in Pakistan using multiple e-mail aliases; he also acquired fake identification, including a card entitling him to physical handicap benefits. The bomb was reportedly assembled at Baig’s internet café. Thereafter, he travelled with it by bus to Pune — where two ranking Indian Mujahideen operatives, Karnataka resident Muhammad Zarar Siddibapa and Mohsin Chaudhury, carried the device to its target. However, Baig had pleaded “not guilty”, adding that he would gladly face trial to prove his innocence. “False allegations have been levelled against me. I have been implicated in the case,” he told the court. In October 2012, he had claimed in the court of additional sessions judge N P Dhote that he was in Aurangabad for a wedding on 13 February, 2010, the day the bomb exploded at the Pune eatery. Recording his statement in court, Baig said he did a DEd course in Pune in 2006 and in 2008 enrolled for a BA course at Poona College and was scouting for a job in Udgir, Latur and Aurangabad. He said he appeared for the DEd CET exam in Latur and had gone to Latur to get some information about DEd CET on 19 August, 2010, when he was arrested. “I was at the bus stop in Latur when five to six persons approached me. Pointing a gun, they made me sit in their four-wheeler. I was brought to Mumbai and then to Pune ATS office after two days,” he said, according to the  Indian Express. Baig claimed ATS officers Kadam and Sabnis took him to German Bakery to show him the blast site. He also alleged the cops had threatened to book his family members as well. But, there was much controversy in Baig’s arrest. According to a Mid Day report, Deputy Inspector General of Police Ravindra Kadam of the state Anti-Terrorism Squad had told a TV channel in Udgir that the prime suspect Mirza Himayat Baig was not present in the city when the German Bakery blast took place. Kadam’s statement was contradictory to Additonal Director General of Police and ATS chief Rakesh Maria’s statement that Baig had come to the city along with Indian Mujahideen terrorist Yasin Bhatkal on 13 February. However, Kadam later retracted the statement.Baig’s cellphone records appearred to show that he was in Aurangabad when the bombing took place. “Baig’s passport shows he travelled to Sri Lanka — but the Mumbai Police did not dispatch investigators to Colombo or seek the help of its police services. There is, therefore, no corroborative evidence that the meeting with the jihad commanders ever took place. Nor did investigators conduct forensic tests at Mr. Baig’s internet café for explosives residues, or establish that he purchased the components used to manufacture the bomb,” notes The Hindu.