Sergei Filin acid attack: Three men including principal Bolshoi dancer arrested company director is left blind Principal dancer to be questioned over 'masterminding' attack on Sergei Filin Bolshoi director Filin had sulphuric acid thrown at him on 17 January A top Bolshoi Ballet dancer was sensationally arrested today by police probing a ruthless sulphuric acid attack on the world famous troupe's artistic director. Two others were also picked up over the January incident which left Sergei Filin, 42, almost blind and his face disfigured. Star soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko - famed for playing Ivan the Terrible- who lived close to Filin and is known by his own admission for a fearsome temper. He faces questioning as the alleged mastermind behind the attack, according to Russian reports. He was arrested with Yury Zarutsky, 35, suspected perpetrator of the attack, and Andrey Lipatov, 31, allegedly driver of the get-away car. 'There is a promising theory about the person who ordered the attack,' said a police source yesterday. The operation was the first tangible progress in a probe over the attack on Filin, who required emergency surgery to save his eyesight. The assault plunged the Bolshoi a major crisis and shocked the ballet world. Filin was left with severe burns to his eyes and face when an unidentified attacker threw a jar of sulphuric acid in his face as he was returning home late on January 17. Novikova added: 'There is hope that they are on someone's trail. She added: 'We are not aware of any conflict between Filin and Dmitrichenko. Its obvious there are many satisfied and unsatisfied people in the theatre but there was no sudden conflict between them. Some reports claimed he was in dispute with Filin over his 21 year old 'partner' Anzhelina Vorontsova, another Bolshoi dancer, who the director allegedly snubbed. Vorontsova is a student of leading dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze who is seen as a rival of Filin, but who strongly denied any role in the attack. Suspect: Pavel Dmitrichenko has an apartment in the same block as Filin although it is rented out to a woman Dancer: Sources say that Pavel Dmitrichenko may been upset about the treatment of his Bolshoi partner Anzhelina Vorontsova, 21, pictured above