Mangaluru blast case: Karnataka cops confirm identity of the accused; 5 detained

Mangaluru, Nov 22: After conducting searches in seven places across the state, the Karnataka Police has detained five youths in connection with the Mangaluru blast case.

Two people have been detained from Mysuru, one each in Mangaluru and Bengaluru, and another in Tamil Nadu's Ooty, according to a report in The Times of India.

Meanwhile, the cops have also confirmed the identity of the prime accused who was in the auto-rickshaw. The name of the accused is H Mohammad Shariq.

Although the media has been reporting that his name was Shariq, the cops have confirmed it only now after talking to his relatives. Also, the data on his phone came in handy.

A moving auto-rickshaw exploded on Saturday evening, causing fire and heavy smoke, and the driver and a passenger were among those who sustained burn injuries. A cooker fitted with detonator, wires and batteries was used to trigger the blast.

Both Shariq and the autorickshaw driver Purushottam are admitted to a hospital.

Shariq: The man with the vicious plan

Shariq hails from Thirthahalli taluk in Shivamogga district. The 24-year-old was residing in a rented room in Mysuru with a false identity.

He is a B.Com dropout and had no knowledge of making explosives. However, he sought help from M.tech students to make explosives, the report said. He learnt to make IEDs through drawings on a notebook which has been seized by the cops.

During the investigation, they have found mixer grinders, keypad phones, batteries, timer PCB boards, cables, nuts and bolts, sulphate, potassium chlorate and large quantities of glass powder from his room.

He had made the pressure-cooker bomb in his room and brought it to Mangaluru on a bus on Saturday. He took the auto rickshaw that was coming from the Mangalore Railway Junction and told the driver to drop him at Pumpwell in Mangaluru. The bomb blasted barely after a km.

As per the preliminary investigation, he was trained by Arafath Ali, who is accused of inciting youths to write graffiti hailing Lashkar-e-Taiba and terrorism in Mangaluru.

He also has links with Musafir Hussain and Abdul Mateen Ahmed Taha.

On the other hand, a state-wide alert has been issued along with special security instructions towards crowded locations in Karnataka. The police notified that security should be heightened at airports, railway stations, markets, bus stands and tourist destinations among other places.

The National Investigation Agency is expected to takeover the case of Mangaluru autorickshaw explosion.