The terror attack on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus here over two years ago, has been finally cracked, with the arrest of a suspect in Lucknow.

Director General and Inspector General of Police K R Srinivasan said here on Sunday that Sabauddin alias Saba alias Sallahuddin, who was arrested in Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh police along with five other suspected terrorists, is said to have spilt the beans on the 2005 IISc attack.

“Sabauddin has confessed that he was a helper to Pakistani terrorist and LeT operative Abu Hamza who pulled the trigger in the IISc attack and killed Professor M C Puri,” said Mr Srinivasan. The Karnataka police have rushed a team to Uttar Pradesh to interrogate Sabauddin and bring him to Bangalore for further investigation. A native of Madhubani in Bihar, Sallahuddin had undergone terrorist training in Pakistan. He was arrested in connection with the attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh on this New Year’s Day.

Mates in terror

Mr Srinivasan further revealed that Riyazuddin Naser alias Mohammed Ghouse, the terror suspect arrested recently by Honnali police, too had undergone training in Pakistan along with Abu Hamza. DGP Ajai Kumar Singh, of the CoD which is investigating the recent terror trail involving Naser, said, “As per our information, Hamza is in Pakistan now. He had entered India illegally. So far only two names have cropped up in the IISc attack case but further interrogation of Sabauddin would throw more light on the case.” He added that Hamza was the only person from across the border involved in the IISc attack, while all others were locals.

Replying to a query on the earlier sketches released by the Bangalore police in connection with the IISc attack, Mr Singh said those sketches were based on the information given by eye-witnesses. “With the arrest of Sabauddin, we will now have to verify the sketches,” Mr Singh said.