Mangaluru blast: Accused’s photo with cooker bomb surfaces; he used dark web to contact handlers
Shariq's photo with cooker bomb comes after his home in Karnataka was searched. Shariq, who was injured in the blast, is in hospital. According to the authorities, preliminary inquiry suggests that he has ties to terrorism.
FollowTension has gripped Mangaluru after the explosion in a moving autorickshaw. The blast occurred on November 19 evening inside an autorickshaw, leaving the passenger and the driver injured. The accused, identified as Shariq, has a history of criminal activity and was first detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act) (UAPA), but he was released on a technicality.
Now, a photo of Shariq with cooker bomb has surfaced. This development comes after Shariq's home who is reportedly connected to the Saturday autorickshaw explosion in Karnataka was searched. Shariq, who was injured in the blast, is in hospital.
In a key development on the Mangaluru explosion, the ADGP Law and Order, Alok Kumar, revealed that the accused Shariq is also connected to a global terrorist organisation and that he was preparing more explosions in the coastal cities of Karnataka.
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The name of the accused's foreign handler, Abdul Mateen, was also disclosed by the Karnataka Police. The police looked into the accused Shariq's connections to the October 23 Coimbatore bomb case as part of their investigation.
"From his room in Mysuru, we retrieved phosphorous, sulphur, explosive stuff, nuts, and bolts. Shariq arrived in Mangaluru a week prior, did a reconnaissance of the city, and intended to execute explosions. Shariq possessed another fictitious Aadhar card," he added. Kumar further said Shariq used dark web to contact his handlers, claiming a big breakthrough in the case.
Shariq, the auto-rickshaw passenger, was allegedly carrying a low-intensity improvised explosive device (IED). A burnt pressure cooker fitted with batteries was found inside the vehicle.
Additionally, Shariq was seen carrying an Aadhaar card that did not belong to him, according to the police. The card's owner has been identified. Premraj Hutagi, a track worker at the Tumakuru railway station and a citizen of Karnataka's Hubballi district, claimed to have misplaced the card but had since obtained a copy.
The police stated that they had "a reasonable understanding that he (Shariq) was trying to target something, but they don't know what," because of the "stolen" Aadhaar card. According to the police, Shariq was previously detained for defacing walls in Mangaluru with graffiti in violation of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The police searched Shariq's rental home in Madahalli, which is 13 kilometres from Mysuru, on Sunday afternoon. Additionally, a bomb squad was stationed nearby. According to the authorities, he leased the one-room apartment last month, informing the home's owner that he was there for "mobile maintenance training."
Karnataka Director General of Police, Praveen Sood, said that the explosion in Mangaluru auto was an 'act of terror'. Months before the state elections, a bomb went off in the racially volatile seaside town of Mangaluru, which is located 370 kilometres from Bengaluru, the state capital.
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