The terrorist attract at IISc was waiting to happen. At least, that’s what investigative agencies were told as they interrogated several terrorists arrested recently.Sources said these agencies had informed the Home Ministry that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had been planning to attack Bangalore, India’s software capital.While J-K police have suggested that the attack could be the work of an LeT cell that evaded capture recently, a suspected terrorist arrested in Hyderabad had told interrogators in Delhi that Bangalore was on the hitlist of certain Bangladesh outfits. Ministry sources, however, said the IISc was never mentioned as specific target and the LeT’s involvement, if any, remains unconfirmed. Says IGP (Kashmir Range) K Rajendra: ‘‘If this is a terrorist attack, it is not surprising. Last year, we unearthed a Lashkar network in Srinagar which had done elaborate reconnaissance at IISc and various IITs. We captured almost everyone except one cell that was missing.”Meanwhile, a suspected Harkat-ul-Jehad operative arrested by Hyderabad police and brought to Delhi by the Special Cell, last week, had revealed that Bangalore was the target of militants operating from Bangladesh. Mohammed Ibrahim had confessed that he had crossed to Bangladesh last December and sent to a Pakistani training camp this April, where trainees were told to target cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad.This March, the Special Cell had also busted an LeT module, which had on its target many Bangalore-based software companies and HAL, apart from IMA, Dehradun. The terrorists had even visited several places in Bangalore.
