Indian police said on Friday they had foiled a suspected Islamist militant plot to attack the IT Hub of Bangalore following the arrest of two men believed to be Pakistani nationals in the south of the country. The two men were held after an overnight gun battle with police in the palace city of Mysore, 140 km (90 miles) southwest of Bangalore, they said.A plan to attack a prominent government building in Bangalore, home to India's top computer software and backoffice firms, was uncovered, they added. "Our men had to return fire after the militants opened fire," Praveen Sood, Mysore's Police Commissioner, told Reuters. "Two of our policemen have been injured."
| Police had found plans of Vikas Soudha building in Bangalore -- a newly built government administration block -- on the men. "They had done a comprehensive survey of Vikas Soudha in Bangalore and were planning an attack on it." |
"Based on initial interrogation and literature seized from the laptop, we have conclusive evidence that they belonged to Al-Badr organisation in Pakistan," said Sood. Al-Badr is a Pakistan-based Islamist militant outfit fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir. Indian security agencies say it is made up mostly of militants from Pakistan and Afghanistan.