Did Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, one of the accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, know about the 2005 Indian Institute of Science terror attack?
Kasab narrated graphic details of the attack, that killed Professor Munish Chander Puri of IIT Delhi, to his interrogators.
According to former ADGP Gopal Hosur, the terror attack took place soon after an international conference in the IISC campus was carried out by an armed LeT recruit Abu Hamza, who was aided by Sabauddin from Bihar. Sabauddin, who had enrolled in a city college to get a student identity card, carried out a survey across star hotels and colleges including IIMB, to identify events hosting international delegates as Bengaluru came to be a terror target.
On December 28, 2005, the two terrorists planned to enter IISc, throw grenades and open fire during the international seminar, in order to cause the maximum number of casualties.
"Sabauddin and Hamza boarded a rickshaw and Sabauddin got off earlier. Hamza overshot the IISc gate. But fearing the traffic cops, the auto driver refused to break the one-way rule. He took a detour through Sadashivanagar and when they finally reach the IISc gate, Hamza panicked as the event was over. He saw the participants walking out of the Tata auditorium. He threw a grenade which failed to blast so he opened fire indiscriminately killing one and injuring eight others. The terrorists escaped to Karachi, via Hyderabad, Patna and Nepal. While Sabauddin was arrested in Nepal, Hamza was never caught, " recounts Hosur.
During the investigation, Hosur who met Kasab in Mumbai, says he was astonished to find Kasab giving a vivid description of the IISc attack. "Kasab told me that the LeT used PowerPoint presentation of IISc attack as a case study for its new recruits and he had seen it in Karachi. The point is terrorists are not just radicalised but extensively trained using latest technology too. We need a well-coordinated effort between the Centre, states and agencies to counter this growing challenge of global terror, " said Hosur making a strong case for bringing the police under the concurrent list.
"Law and order (police) should be shifted from the State List to the Concurrent List to contain and control cross-border terrorism and Left-wing extremism," said Hosur.
Given the limitations of trained manpower in the police, especially the Intelligence wing, Guruprasad stressed on outsourcing non-police work like information technology for better policing.
