‘Lashkar kingpins behind IISc attack also targeted PM rally, Advani too’

Investigations have shown that on Muzammil’s instructions, Bilal organised the attack, sending a Pak-trained LeT man to Bangalore via Bangladesh, West Bengal and Hyderabad, sources said. The identity of the attacker is still not known. The police believe that the Ak-56 automatic used in the attack was shipped separately.

“Investigations have reached a stage where the accused in the IISc attack can be numbered depending on their roles in the crime. Muzammil and Bilal figure at the top,” sources said.

Muzammil and Bilal’s names have featured prominently in recent terror activities. Muzammil is reported to have plotted the killing of L K Advani when the latter was the Deputy Prime Minister. The plan was exposed following the 2003 “encounter” killing in Gujarat of four persons, including a Mumbai college girl Ishrat Raza Jahan and two Pakistani nationals. Police said that the three men killed reported to Muzammil.

Bilal has been in the news more recently. A six-foot plus man who’s said to wear size 14 shoes, Bilal has been on the radar of Indian intelligence and the police as the brains behind several high-profile operations—a November 2004 attack on a rally featuring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being a prime example.

The most recent mention of Bilal was by the Kashmir police following the arrest of three LeT operatives, including a National Conference councillor, Arshad Badroo, in Mumbai’s Nagpada area. The Kashmir police indicated that Badroo, Haji Mohammad Ramzan and Khursheed Ahmad Lone (also a resident of Bandipore) were sent to Mumbai by Bilal.