Bengaluru: The man suspected to be involved in Saturday’s low-intensity blast in Mangaluru is a history-sheeter with alleged links to the Islamic State, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in Karnataka Police identified the suspect in the case as Mohammed Shariq, a resident of Thirthahalli in the neighbouring Shivamogga district. Shariq is one of the two people wounded in the blast.
Police suspect that the pressure cooker bomb that Shariq was carrying blew up on the way to its intended target area, scuttling the plan of the perpetrators.
One senior police officer told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that Shariq, who is believed to be in his mid 20’s, was a “highly radicalised individual” who has serious charges against him.
He was allegedly involved in a stabbing case in Shivamogga on Independence Day this year — an incident that police claim occurred over a quarrel over the posters of Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar.
Police had claimed then that those involved in that incident, including Shariq, had links with the Islamic State.
“He (Shariq) was absconding in the Shivamogga case and also an accused in the graffiti case in Mangaluru and on bail in this case,” the senior police officer said.
He was referring to the graffiti that had emerged in support of Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Taliban in a few places in communally sensitive Mangaluru on the 12th anniversary of the Mumbai attacks in November 2020.
Shariq’s currently in a hospital undergoing treatment for his injuries and has yet to be placed under arrest.
In a statement he issued Sunday evening, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had taken over the investigation.
An LED exploded inside a pressure cooker in an auto rickshaw in Mangaluru on Saturday evening, he said in the statement.
“The bomb blast in Mangaluru looks like an act of terror prima facie and the government will crack this case,” he said to reporters on Sunday.
“Since the injured are recuperating in [a] hospital, more information will be procured from him [Shariq]. As this individual had visited several places, including Coimbatore, he may have links with [a] terrorist group. This information has been shared by police after a preliminary probe. Any links of this blast incident with the banned PFI will be known after a thorough investigation.”
The development comes hours after Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood said that the blast was an “act of terror”.
An auto exploded on the outskirts of the city Saturday evening, wounding Shariq and the rickshaw driver.
Mangaluru Police said that at least five teams had been formed to nab any others associated with the incident.
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‘Intention to cause serious damage’
In tweets that he posted Sunday morning, DGP Sood said that the blast was aimed at causing “serious damage”.
“It’s confirmed now. The blast is not accidental but an ACT OF TERROR with intention to cause serious damage. Karnataka State Police is probing deep into it along with central agencies,” Sood said in his tweet.
In another tweet, Sood said that an Aadhaar card found on the site of the blast belonged to a railway employee, Premraj, who lost it some time ago.
“Mangalore blast case: Premraj is a victim of identity theft. It’s confirmed. He has nothing to do with this incident,” Sood said.
The suspect used the Aadhar card to rent accommodation in Mysuru, police sources said.
CCTV footage played by some media channels shows an auto exploding on the road. ThePrint couldn’t independently verify the video.
Mangaluru Police N.Shashi Kumar said Saturday evening that the incident took place on the outskirts of the city near Kankanadi Police station and added that police teams had been deployed across Mangaluru, a communally sensitive city.
Karnataka’s Minister for Home Affairs Araga Jnanendra claimed there was a “big plot” behind the blast.
“While travelling in the auto, there was a blast and a patient [auto driver] has been admitted to the hospital and is being given good treatment. He is in no position to talk. The Mangaluru police are probing the incident,” Jnanendra said in a video statement Sunday.
“According to information from several sources, there is a big plot behind it and we are seeing possible links to big terrorist organisations. [Against] this backdrop, we are talking to central security agencies who have come here. There is a joint investigation going on. I believe that all the details on this will come out in the next couple of days,” the minister said in his statement.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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