No breakthrough yet in IISc attack case

No breakthrough yet in IISc attack case
Deccan Herald

Over 24 hours have passed since a suspected militant attack in IISc campus killed a scientist in Bangalore and the police are “clueless”. However, a breakthrough is expected in the next few days, sources assert.


Meanwhile, various theories are afloat regarding the identity of the assailants. They could be either from militant outfits or the D-Company.

Police did not rule out the hand of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) behind the attack, but so far they have not been able to pinpoint any extremist group. Meanwhile, the Intelligence Bureau sources said that looking at the modus operandi, the attack could have been carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The method used by both these outfits are similar, i.e, indiscriminate firing at the target. But, both leave behind some significant and distinct tell-tale symbols after they carry out an attack, the sources added.

LeT claims responsibility immediately after leaving behind some Arabic numbers and inscriptions while the Jaish-e-Mohammed does not assert itself in this manner, the sources added.

According to a senior police officer, there could have been more than two militants involved. The police also suspect that the militants would have used a motorcycle to reach the spot. The police on Wednesday suspected that the assailants had used a white Ambassador. On Thursday they ruled out the possibility of the vehicle being used. He said there was a possibility that the assailant would have jumped the IISc compound wall and hidden inside the premises for sometime before carrying out the attack.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Bangalore City Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh said a special police team had been formed apart from five other teams comprising the assistant commissioners of police and inspectors. The computer sketches of the assailant could not be made as the prime eye witnesses have been hospitalised. Once the eye witnesses are in a position to give the details the sketches would be prepared by experts, Mr Singh said.

Even as the City police has zeroed in on militants’ hand in the IISc shootout, there is a school of thought in the department which strongly suspects the hand of Dubai-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. The occasion during which the episode has been planned points at the lie-detector tests being conducted on gangster Abu Salem, said a senior police official. With Salem scheduled to undergo narco-analysis tests in Bangalore on Thursday, Dawood would have sensed an imminent danger from his possible revelations during the tests and engineered the attack in J N Tata Auditorium premises to divert the attention of law-enforcing authorities, he added.

Any vital information may provide suitable grounds to the Indian police to exert pressure on the international community to deport Dawood, he opined. He also said that if the assailants were trained extremists, they could have caused a large-scale devastation in the IISc campus, given the poor security and the number of people in its premises.

The unexploded grenades and the number of cartridges wasted also support this theory, he added.