24-year-old Mohammed Shariq has been identified as the passenger in the auto-rickshaw that witnessed an explosive blast inside it on November 19 in Mangaluru city. He was carrying a low-intensity Improvised Explosive device (IED).
Earlier, in 2020 Shariq was arrested in a terror graffiti case in Mangaluru and was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention (UAPA) Act. He later got bail on technical grounds.
Shariq is from Thirthahalli and was travelling in the auto-rickshaw under a fake identity. Shariq stole the lost Aadhaar card of a Hindu man Premraj Hutagi & used it to rent a house for making bombs. He was travelling with a pressure cooker IED that exploded and injured him as well as the driver Purushottam.
On November 21, Karnataka ADGP Alok Kumar said that the accused Shariq’s residence was raided in connection with the auto blast case. Batteries, chemicals, circuit boards, and more materials to make IEDs were recovered during the raid, the ADGP added. A photo of Shariq posing with a cooker bomb has also been recovered.
Abdul Matheen, an absconding accused is also probably the main handler and NIA has a Rs 5 lakh bounty on him, the ADGP further said in a press conference.
Earlier, on November 20, the Director General & Inspector General of Police, Praveen Sood clarified that it was not an accident but 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,” DGP Karnataka had said in a tweet.
