Bangalore: Why would terrorists target a premier academic institution in the heart of the city? A day after the
attack, in which a former IIT professor was killed and four others injured, the answer is elusive.
The site of the attack – Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore – looks like an encounter site in Kashmir. And the similarities do not end there, the pattern of the operation is also striking.
An official-looking car is used to
fool the security and reach near the target. Once there, the assailants lob grenades followed by indiscriminate firing with automatic weapons.
The method and the sheer audacity of Wednesday's strike has all the markings of terrorist attacks by Kashmiri militants.
The strike is similar to the attacks on Parliament in 2001 and Akshardham temple in 2002.
On December 13, 2001, five Pak-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists dressed like securities guard had managed to enter Parliament premises in a white Ambassador car, popularly used by bureaucrats and politicians, replete with government-issued stickers.
After Wednesday night attack, Bangalore police recovered a grenade, an AK-56 assualt rifle and some cartridges.
The modus operandi is so alike that the Bangalore Police, unwittingly perhaps, are drawing parallel to previous attacks in an attempt to cover up what was clearly a security lapse on their part.
Bangalore Police Commissioner, Ajai Kumar Singh says, "One cannot prevent these attacks, there is no way of knowing when and where they may happen. If Parliament could have been attacked, then there can be attacks anywhere."
Nonetheless, the fact remains that the attack comes after repeated warnings from intelligence agencies.
Director General of Police, B S Sial, however, says they did not have specific information about an attack.
One of the reasons why there wasn't specific details could be because most terror networks have now started operating through their 'sleeper cells' which are difficult to trace. Another tactics used by Kashmir militants.
Ajai Kumar Singh speculates that the attack could have been the work of Pak-based Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit. However, but no group has claimed responsibility as yet.
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