Bangalore, April 5
Terror suspect Sabauddin has confessed to the police here that he was the mastermind behind the December 2005 terror strike on the IISc which he executed at the behest of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a top police official said today.

Sabauddin, whose custody was secured by the Corps of Detectives (COD) from Lucknow, revealed during interrogation that he, along with his associate Hamza, had identified four targets for the terror attack but zeroed on IISc as it was hosting an international conference, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Gopal Hosur said here.

The police has recovered a bag belonging to Sabauddin from a house in Hebbal in the city, which he had rented while plotting the attack.

The strike, which claimed the life of a Delhi-based assistant professor, had sent shock waves among people of the city and the police was not able to crack the case until Sabauddin’s arrest in Lucknow.

Sabauddin had undergone advanced training in handling all kinds of weapons and explosives and commando training, Hosur added.

Hosur said Hamza had shot at the Delhi professor, killing him. After the attack, Sabauddin and Hamza escaped through different routes, City Police Commissioner N Achuta Rao said.

While Hamza escaped to Pakistan, Sabauddin fled to Nepal and went on to become in-charge of the LeT there.

Later he returned to India and masterminded the attack on the CRPF camp in Rampur where eight police personnel were killed.

Sabauddin was radicalised by SIMI and trained in Pakistan by the ISI. Sabauddin also admitted to carrying out the attack at the behest of the LeT, Hosur said.

He confessed to meeting top LeT cadres, including Zaki Ur Rehman Haqvi and the Chief Operational Commander Muzammil, alias Yousuff, Hosur said.

He was asked to go to Bangalore and hatch a plot to carry out a terror strike. He told the police that Bangalore had been chosen to carry out the terror strike as several IT majors were located in the city and since it was witnessing an economic boom.

Terror attack in Bangalore was bound to attract global attention, which made them zero-in on the city, Sabauddin said. — PTI

New Delhi, April 5
The BJP will have an alliance with the JD(U) for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka, notwithstanding the state units’ desire to go it alone.

Top BJP sources made it clear that the party would have a tie-up with JD(U) but said the finer details of the adjustment were yet to be worked out. The party’s state leadership is reluctant to have an alliance with any party, including the JD(U), as it wants to contest in as many seats as possible to increase its tally.

On the other hand, the central leadership is of the view that the party cannot antagonise the JD(U), a key NDA constituent and its ruling partner in Bihar.

Last time, the BJP had an alliance with JD(U) and an understanding with the AIADMK. While the JD(U) won five out of the 25 seats it had contested, the AIADMK bagged two.

Party sources said the central leadership has conveyed to the state unit that the JD(U) has to be accommodated, but all indications are that it might not be given the same number of seats given last time.

Karnataka BJP leaders argue that the JD(U) has weakened much in the state with several of its leaders, including Basavaraj Bommai, joining the party. Basavaraj is the son of JD(U)’s founder president S R Bommai.

However, no decision has been taken on whether to have a seat adjustment with the AIADMK. The Jayalalithaa-led party has a significant presence in at least 10 seats where there is a sizable chunk of Tamil population. — PTI

New Delhi, April 5
In a significant move to deepen the bilateral ties, India and Singapore have decided to set up a bilateral strategic dialogue mechanism to identify newer areas of cooperation and exchange notes on political and security issues.

Singapore is the latest addition to list of the countries with which India already has an institutionalised strategic dialogue mechanism. India’s special relationship exists with the USA, UK, Russia, Japan, the EU and ASEAN.

Initially, the strategic dialogue mechanism with Singapore will operate in a Track 2 diplomacy mode. This was disclosed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to mark the first day of the Incredible India @ 60 campaign, which is being held in Singapore by the Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The Singapore Prime Minister also stayed for the exuberant fashion show ‘Kotwara’ by Meera and Muzaffar Ali.

Lee said India-Singapore relations were based on mutual respect and common interests. Foreign ministers of both countries are to meet later this month to oversee bilateral projects. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement of the two countries has given an impetus to trade and investment links. Trade grew 20 per cent last year, and over 7,50,000 Indian tourists visited Singapore.

Lee had glowing words for India’s ‘historic transformation’ to a path of resilient and sustained growth. He said India’s economic vitality and dynamism had created new opportunities for the world. South East Asia was fortunate to be neighbour to the two fast-growing economies of India and China, he commented. He said the examples of Mittal Steel and Tata Motors were visible signs of how India was integrating with the world economy.

Commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath, in his address said the Incredible India @ 60 campaign was celebrating India’s engagement with the world. He said India wished to engage with Singapore because of its institutions and systems and added that after this campaign in New York last year, there could be no better place than Singapore to carry it forward.

Indian high commissioner to Singapore S. Jaishankar said the campaign was aimed at celebrating ‘Incredible India’ becoming ‘credible India’, with its world class companies, brand names and, most of all, its democratic framework.

New Delhi, April 5
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called on President Pratibha Patil at the Rastrapati Bhawan, sparking off fresh speculations about a Cabinet reshuffle.

Although a statement from the Rashtrapati Bhawan said the meeting was held to discuss and review recent national and international developments, it was being viewed as “politically significant” as a Cabinet reshuffle is expected any time now. UPA sources had earlier indicated that the reshuffle was likely by April 11 as the President had to travel abroad the next day.

She is scheduled to visit some Latin American countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Chile, beginning next week. This would be her first official overseas visit after becoming the President last year.

A Cabinet reshuffle, meanwhile, looks imminent with indications that two ministers have expressed their willingness to step down after their Rajya Sabha term ends. Union minister Suresh Pachauri’s tenure expired on April 2, while M.V. Rajashekharan’s membership will end on April 9. Pachauri was not renominated as the Congress did not have the numbers it required in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, while Rajashekharan also did not manage to get back to the Upper House as the Karnataka Assembly was dissolved and the state placed under President’s rule.

Although under the Constitution, a minister can stay in office without being an MP, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi both disfavoured the arrangement on grounds of political impropriety.

Agra, April 5
Orphaned at seven, he ran away from home to escape the tyranny of his uncle and was taken care of by a Muslim family in northern India. Now at 20, Rakesh Singh has through Google Earth traced his village Kiraoli, near Agra and is fighting to get his property back.

For the past few weeks, Rakesh has been running from one office to the other to get his house and land back from his uncle. He accuses his uncle of torturing him, beating him, and even trying to get rid of him after his father Jagan Singh’s death when he was just seven. His mother was kicked out of the house and died under “mysterious circumstances”.

Rakesh ran away and railway stations became his home. Then one day, a university couple from Delhi, professor S.W. Hassan (retd) and his wife, spotted him on a train, took him to their home where they looked after him.

“I searched various districts on the internet. I looked up the maps on Google Earth and finally zeroed on Kiraoli in Agra district. A visit to the village confirmed this was the place of my birth. I found my relatives and my uncle and now I am trying to win back my property,” Rakesh said.

Rakesh has all the documents and is even prepared to have a DNA test because his uncle is not accepting him for fear of losing the property. But the villagers are solidly with him. — IANS

BRIEFLY

Jamiat-Ulama-E-Hind splits
New Delhi: The Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind today formally split, with the faction led by Maulana Mahmood Madani claiming to be the real Jamiat, dismissing the other as “null and void”. The organisation dating back to the pre-independence era has been marred by continuous internal rivalry, which became public when Mahmood, its general secretary, came out in the open against president Maulana Arshad Madani, who was later expelled from the body by a working committee meeting of the Jamiat on March 6. — PTI

3 German warships arrive
Kochi: Three German naval warships, including an Air Defence ship, arrived here today on a four-day visit to participate in joint exercises with the Indian Navy. The German Task Force, comprising ships FGS Hamburg, FGS Koeln and FGS Berline, with captain Michael Budde as the commander of the Task Force, berthed at the Kochi port today, a naval press release said.— PTI

Cop opens fire, 2 hurt
KAKINADA(AP): Two hospital staffers were injured when a police constable on escort duty, enraged by the stance of the hospital staff, opened fire in the casualty ward of the government general hospital here on Saturday. The constable who was identified as Ramana had come on escort duty for an undertrial prisoner Y. Punnaiah, a cancer patient. — UNI

3 charred to death
SITAPUR (UP): Three members of a family, including a woman and a child, were charred to death after their hut caught fire in Nayagaon village here, the police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Friday night when the hut in which Shravan Kumar (22), his wife Gungadevi (20) and their 2-year-old son were sleeping, caught fire, it said. — PTI

Maoist abduct 3 workers
JAMUI: A group of armed CPI (Maoist) ultras abducted three workers of a road construction company from Bandarmara village under the Sono police station area in the district. The police said here on Saturday that around 100 Maoist guerrillas attacked the village on Friday and abducted the three workers.— UNI

12 SIMI associates held
NARSINGHPUR (MP): In the ongoing drive against Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), 12 SIMI associates were arrested from a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur district on Friday. All those arrested under Section 109 IPC were remanded in judicial custody on Saturday, the police said. — UNI

3 farmers commit suicide
AKOLA: Three debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in the district during the last 24 hours, the police said today. With the Centre’s farm loan waiver scheme to be implemented from July 1 this year, these fresh incidents of farmers ending their lives become significant. — PTI