Deadly Indian bomb likely meant for Chabad

(JTA) A bomb that exploded in a crowded cafe in India was likely meant for the nearby Chabad house, Indian authorities said.

The bomb that detonated Feb. 13 in Pune killed nine people and injured 57. The bakery is located several dozen yards from the city’s Chabad house.

Pune is 125 miles southeast of Mumbai, where in November 2008 a major terrorist attack at several sites simultaneously, including the Chabad house, killed 179 people, including six Jewish victims at the Jewish center.

Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said he believed the Chabad house in Pune had previously been under surveillance by David Headley, an American of Pakistani descent in prison in Chicago for allegedly scouting out targets for the Mumbai attack. The Pune bomb that detonated was left in the cafe, called the German Bakery, in a shopping bag by terrorists pretending to be customers, according to reports.

Police have speculated that another terrorist was meant to pick up the bag and take it to the nearby Chabad house, Haaretz reported. The bag exploded when a waiter opened it.