NIA likely to take over probe on K’taka blast
BENGALURU: The probe into an explosion in an auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru last week is likely to be handed over to the National Investigation Agency, officials familiar with the matter said on Monday, even as the Karnataka Police expanded the scope of their probe to Tamil Nadu and Kerala after it emerged that the suspect in the “act of terror” recently visited the two states.
On Monday, the police conducted raids at seven locations across Karnataka, including the house of the main suspect, Mohammed Shariq, in Mysuru. Over 150 matchboxes, sulphur, phosphorous, batteries, circuits, and nuts and bolts — materials used in making bombs — were found from the house where Shariq was allegedly living on a stolen identity, police said.
The blast occurred in an autorickshaw on November 19, injuring its driver, Purushottam, and the passenger, who was later identified as Thirthahalli-based Shariq. The 24-year-old accused was allegedly travelling with a pressure cooker fitted with a detonator, wires and batteries when it exploded. People familiar with the matter told ANI that “discussion (about handing over the probe to NIA) is going on high level, and there is a possibility that the case may be handed over to the NIA by late this evening or any day in this week”.
Giving details of the investigation, Karnataka additional director general of police (law and order) Alok Kumar said that Shariq was “influenced and inspired” by a global terrorist organisation. “Shariq’s handler was Abdul Mateen Taha from Suddaguntepalya in Bengaluru on whom the National Investigation Agency has announced a reward of ₹5 lakh. We believe he is in Dubai,” the ADGP said.
Taha runs the Al-hind module of the Islamic State in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
NIA cracked down on the module in 2020, alleging that “the group wanted to establish an IS province in south India”, in a charge sheet filed in 2021.
A day after the blast, Karnataka director general of police Praveen Sood said that the blast was an “act of terror”. “It’s confirmed now. The blast is not accidental but an act of terror with the intention to cause serious damage. Karnataka State Police is probing deep into it along with central agencies,” Sood tweeted on Sunday. Shariq suffered more than 25% burns in the blast, Kumar said on Monday. “Our priority is to ensure that he survives. We want to question him to get more details regarding his plans and what was the target,” he said.
During Monday’s raids, police also recovered photographs from an electronic device where Shariq can be seen posing alongside a pressure cooker with wires poking out of it. According to Kumar, while living in Mysuru, Shariq worked at a mobile repair training institute. He travelled to Kerala and Tamil Nadu where he procured stolen Aadhaar cards, mobile SIM cards and other materials, Kumar said, adding that his mobile phone location data was used to track his movements.
While the target of the blast is still unclear, the ADGP said: “We know that he came to Mangaluru in September. We are certain that it was recce for the attack.”
The police have taken four other people into custody, Kumar said. “One person is from Tamil Nadu, we will question them for more information,” he said, without giving details of the role the four men played in the blast.
Two other police officers familiar with the investigation identified the man detained from Ooty in Tamil Nadu as Surendran. According to the officials, Shariq stayed in the same dormitory as Surendran when he visited the state and stole his Aadhaar details. He allegedly used these details to procure the mobile SIM card he was using at the time of the blast, said the officials.
A third police officer in Karnataka said that their counterparts in Tamil Nadu have launched a probe to find out if Shariq had any associates in the state which witnessed a similar blast in Coimbatore on October 23, where the accused was planning to carry out a suicide attack. While the Tamil Nadu Police have said that there are no links between the two blasts so far, investigations are on to check whether Shariq’s stay in September in Coimbatore was part of a larger criminal conspiracy. Shariq was previously arrested in December 2020 in connection with objectionable graffiti on the walls of a building in Mangaluru. Another person, Mazz Muneer Ahmed, then 21, was also arrested in the case. The two were later released on bail.
His name had also earlier surfaced when a communal clash broke out over putting up Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s photo at a public place on August 15 in the district headquarters town of Shivamogga. The vandals had gone on a rampage and stabbed Prem Singh, a worker at a nearby shop.
In this connection, police arrested Mohammed Zabihulla alias Charbi, Syed Yasin and Mazz Muneer Ahmed while Shariq was absconding.
Yasin and Mazz told police at the time that they were brainwashed by Shariq. Mazz also told the police that he, along with Shariq, conducted experimental blasts along the banks of the Tungabhadra river, said then Shivamogga superintendent of police BM Laxmi Prasad.
“The accused had exploded the bomb made by them at a place locally known as Kemmangundi on the banks of the river in Shivamogga district and the experimental blast was successful,” Prasad, now the deputy commissioner of police (administration) in Bengaluru, said.
“The accused profess the ideology of Islamic State. They were of the view that India got Independence merely from the British. But the real independence would be achieved only after establishing a caliphate and enforcing Sharia law,” the officer said. “They were members of the channel that was only for one-way communication. So far, there is no information on a direct link with the banned organisation,” he added.
Kumar said the police will also look into the conditions on which Shariq was released on bail in the graffiti case. “If there was a failure from the police in arresting for failing bail conditions, we will take action,” he added. Karnataka Police and central agencies are trying to find out the network of which Shariq was a part, state home minister Araga Jnanendra said. “The incident happened when he was on the way to commit a serious crime. The police are on the job to identify all those associated with him,” he said.