10 years since IISC attack: How Bengaluru's traffic saved the day

Bengaluru, Dec 28: It has been ten years since Bengaluru faced its first major terror attack. We are speaking about the attack on the Indian Institute of Sciences which took place on December 28th 2005.

It was the first time that the city witnessed an attack that was planned in Pakistan and while there was one casualty, it made the entire nation sit up and take notice.

There are some interesting aspects that cropped up during the investigation of this case. One such incident was how the traffic jam in Bengaluru messed up the plan for the two fidayeens.
In the words of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba the attack at IISC was a failed one.

One of the suspects in the attack, Sabahuddin Ahmed narrated to his investigators that the masterminds in Pakistan was very upset that the attack which ought to have claimed 50 lives or more fizzled out due to the wrong timing by the fidayeens.

The investigations were slow at the start, but gained steam later. Two persons were present during the attack- Sabahuddin Ahmed and Abu Hamza. While Ahmed is currently in jail for his alleged role in the CRPF camp attack at Uttar Pradesh, Hamza according to the Intelligence Bureau is at Pakistan.

Thank you Bengaluru traffic:

During the probe some interesting details did crop up. When Sabahuddin Ahmed was questioned he told interrogators about the details of the attack right from the planning to the execution. He spoke about the utter confusion that prevailed during the last couple of hours leading up to the attack.
He was in a car with his AK-47 concealed under a cloth.

He was to reach the IISC campus where Hamza was already waiting for him. The plan was Ahmed would reach the campus and then hurl a grenade into the hall where the delegates were present. Then the duo would open fire.

However Ahmed was stuck in a traffic jam and this delayed his arrival at the IISC by nearly an hour. By the time he reached there, the delegates had started to leave and this led to confusion. He hurled the grenade and the delegates on hearing the sound took shelter inside the hall.

Both Hamza and Ahmed began firing indiscriminately and before they could unleash any real damage, it was time for them to flee.

Accused at large:
The name of Abu Hamza has made it in the five dossiers that India has sent to Pakistan following the 26/11. Mumbai attack. There were reports that he was present in Kashmir for sometime and some others claimed that he may have died.

However IB officials say that that the latest inputs suggest that Hamza is very much in Pakistan and works at a Lashkar-e-Tayiba camp in Murdike.

The fact of the matter is that India is not getting Hamza from Pakistan and his trial and conviction in a court of law will remain in-absentia. The trial in the case took a very long time to commence.
It was only in the year 2011 that a court in Bengaluru convicted six persons on the charge that they had aided Hamza and Ahmed.

Mohammed Razur Rehman, Afzar Pasha, Mehboob Ibrahim Chopdar, Noorulla Khan, Mohammed Irfan and Nizamuddin were convicted but one Chand Pasha was acquitted.

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