Restaurant frequented by foreigners
Parwinder Sandhu | Pune

With 22 years of impeccable service in terms of delectable cuisine, German Bakery, situated in Koregaon Park, had indeed become an important landmark of the city.

With more of foreign tourists flocking the bakery as compared to Indian counterparts, the bakery had become a household name internationally. Likewise, it had also become a very prone target for any kind of terror attack, especially targeting the foreign nationals.

Located near the famous Osho Ashram and a Jewish prayer house, Chabad House, the bakery was often seen crowded by foreign nationals mostly those coming to the Osho Ashram. The bakery is usually jampacked during mornings and evenings.

The Saturday's suspected terror attack, in which eight foreign nationals, including four women, were killed while nearly 40 grievously injured, had once again raised a question mark over the security of those visiting the country.

The attack once again reminds of 26/11 in Mumbai where the Jewish centre, Nariman House, was attacked by the Pakistan-backed terrorists.

The Koregaon Park area, where the bakery was located, is considered to be the most posh locality of the city. Apart from being a popular tourist hangout, a large number of foreign nationals have taken rented accommodations in the area, including some students. Even though the police has maintained a tight vigil in the area post-Mumbai attacks, the area is still gullible as a large number of hawkers and migrants are seen moving freely in the area. Even though the Pune Police has opted to remain tightlipped about the entire incident, sources still maintain that the attack was aimed at the foreign nationals only.

The investigating agencies are also trying to work out a possible link between the Saturday's attack, which is first of its kind in the city, with the visit of American terror suspect David Headley who had twice visited the Osho Ashram in 2008-2009.

According to the NIA investigations, Headley had moved to Pune to recce the area around Koregaon Park. Though initially it was believed that he wanted to target the foreigners coming to the Osho Ashram, later it was found that he had scouted the area for targeting the Jewish prayer centre. Headley's last visit to India before being arrested by the FBI was in March last year, to finalise synchronised terror strikes on Jewish houses located in five cities at the instance of Lashker-e-Taiba.

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