LeT attacked IISc in 2005; Mastermind confesses

Terror suspect Sabauddin has confessed to police that he was the mastermind behind the December 2005 terror strike on the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, which he executed at the behest of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, a top police official said on Saturday.

Sabauddin, whose custody was secured by the Corps of Detectives from Lucknow, revealed during interrogation that he along with his associate Hamza had identified four targets for the terror attack but zeroed on IISc, as it was hosting an international conference, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Gopal Hosur told PTI in Bangalore.

Police have recovered a bag belonging to Sabauddin from a house in Hebbal in the city, which he had rented while plotting the attack. The bag contained various articles, including the clothes of Hamza, Hosur said.

The strike, which claimed the life of a Delhi-based assistant professor, had sent shock waves among people of the city and police was not able to crack the case until Sabauddin's arrest in Lucknow.

Sabauddin had undergone advanced training in handling all kinds of weapons and explosives and commando training, he said.

Hosur said Sabauddin has confessed to surveying IISC campus a day prior to the attack.

Hosur said Hamza had shot at the Delhi professor, killing him. After the attack, Sabauddin and Hamza escaped through different routes, City Police Commissioner N Achuta Rao said.

While Hamza escaped to Pakistan, Sabauddin fled to Nepal and went on to become in-charge of the LeT there.

Later, he returned to India and masterminded the attack on the CRPF camp in Rampur where eight police personnel were killed.

Twenty four-year-old Sabauddin was radicalised by SIMI and trained in Pakistan by the ISI. Sabauddin, during interrogation, he also admitted to carrying out the attack at the behest of the LeT, Hosur said.

He confessed to meeting top LeT cadres, including Zaki Ur Rehman Haqvi and the Chief Operational Commander Muzammil alias Yousuff, Hosur said.

He was asked to go to Bangalore and hatch a plot to carry out a terror strike. He told police that Bangalore had been chosen to carry out the terror strike as several IT majors were located in the city and since it was witnessing an economic boom.

The terror attack in Bangalore was bound to attract global attention, which made them zero-in on the city, Sabauddin said.

Sabauddin had arrived in the city in 2004 and tried to get admission in a college, but was unsuccessful. However, he returned later the next year and joined another college.

Hosur said Sabauddin's bag was seized after he revealed that he had left it behind. He had informed the owner of the house that he was leaving for some urgent work, but failed to return after carrying out the attack.