UNI

Bangalore, Jan 16:  The city police have arrested an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba activist from Almatti in Bagalkot district in connection with the terrorist attack on the premier Indian Institute of Science here, in which a professor was killed.

City police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh told newspersons here that the arrested, Habib alias Mehboob Ibrahim, was a key LeT activist in Karnataka. He said Habib, along with Abdul Rehman, already arrested in the case, and others, was planning to blast Kaiga nuclear plant, Almatti dam and transmission lines from Sharavathy hydel station.

A native of Guledgudda in Bagalkot district, Habib was a fabrication mechanic by profession. He was in Saudi Arabia between 1993 and 2001, where he came into contact with Rehman and other LeT leaders, he added.

Gelatin sticks, a diary and other incriminating material were seized from Habib. On questioning, he had revealed that he was planning explosions on the vital installations.

Singh said Rehman, an important LeT functionary, had operational contacts in Pakistan and Bangladesh, apart from Chennai, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. He had been raising funds, recruiting people and organising training in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Besides, he had been procuring weapons and explosives for putting in place a LeT network in the country.

However, the Commissioner said his connection in India and abroad needed to be further investigated.

Police had already arrested Abdul Rehman from Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh in connection with the attack, in which an IIT Delhi professor was gunned down and four others injured.