German Bakery blast: Pune court to give verdict on Baig today

Three years after a terror attack in German Bakery killed 17 people, injured 64 others, a sessions court in Pune is likely to give its verdict today. The court of special judge N P Dhote will seal the fate of the sole arrested accused in the German Bakery blast case Mirza Himayat Baig (30), a resident of Beed, today. The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Baig on 7 September, 2010. Investigators say they found 1,200 kg of explosives from his home in Udgir in Latur district. [caption id=“attachment_698841” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  It was the first major terror strike in Pune that dented its tag of being a peaceful city. Reuters[/caption] During the course of the argument, the defence maintained that Baig was falsely implicated by ATS in the case. They claimed that Baig was attending a wedding in Aurangabad on the day of the blast. The prosecution has said in court that the blast was planned at a meeting in Colombo in 2008, where Baig was trained to make a bomb. He assembled the bomb at his cyber cafe in Udgir. If Baig is found guilty, the prosecution and defence will argue on the quantum of sentence. The chargesheet filed in court names five others as conspirators - Mohsin Choudhary, Yasin Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Faiyaz Kagzi.  However, all of them are still at large. The blast conspiracy was allegedly hatched in Colombo in Sri Lanka in 2008 and the blast took place in 2010. It was around 7 pm on 13 February, 2010, when the powerful blast ripped through the eatery packed with visitors. Five foreigners were among the 17 killed in the terror attack — the first after the 26/11 attacks of Mumbai in 2008. It was the first major terror strike in Pune that dented its reputation of being a safe, peaceful city. The ATS had claimed it to be the handiwork of Indian Mujahideen and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.