Mangaluru Pressure Cooker Bomber Fakes Being Hindu
On 19th of November, an auto-rickshaw exploded in Mangaluru, after which several shocking information has been released about the accused as well as the about the blast.
On Saturday, 19th of November, an auto-rickshaw exploded in Mangaluru, Karnataka. The auto-rickshaw blasted under mysterious circumstances. Now it has been reported that the passenger in the auto-rickshaw was carrying a pressure cooker,and police have found that there was an improvised explosive device (IED) inside the cooker which exploded. However, the intention was not to blast the bomb inside the auto-rickshaw. The accused was possibly taking it to plant it in a different location. This unintentional blast on the way has left the accused and the rickshaw driver severely injured with burn injuries all over their bodies. The passenger was also carrying a stolen Aadhar card of a 24-year-old Hindu person named Premraj. When the police further investigated, they found that Premraj's photo did not match the passenger. He was an employee in the Indian Railways and told police that his Aadhaar card was missing.
The police realised that he was pretending to be a Hindu. Since the man was badly burned the police were not able to interrogate him. They then used his mobile to get more information. His name was later confirmed as Mohammed Shafiq. The call detail records (CDR) showed that the phone was used in Mysuru for over a month, said the police. Triangulating the signal, police were able to identify a house in Mysuru. The police discovered explosives, circuit boards, sulphuric acid, other chemicals, small bolts, batteries, mobile displays, wooden powder, aluminium foil, multimeter, wires, mixer jars, pressure cooker and whistles, and other items in the room rented by the accused. They also found a mobile phone, two fake Aadhaar cards, one PAN card, one debit card, an unused SIM card, and a notebook with circuit drawings have also been recovered. The police said that Shafiq is from Shivamogga and for the last few months; the police were also searching for him. He was reportedly planning a similar attack two months ago in Shivamogga, however, could not succeed as the plan was busted by the police, but he later went missing and could not be arrested.
In November 2020, Mohammed Shafiq was arrested for drawing two anti-national graffiti. He was released on bail and the case is pending. While on bail, he has been doing all this. He was arrested along with his engineering graduate associate Maaz Muneer Ahmed and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and was later released on bail. The case is still pending.However, the police investigation has found Shafiq had links with ISIS and was in touch with many of his handlers. On Monday, 21st of November, photos surfaced of Shariq in an “ISIS-pose” holding a pressure cooker with circuit wires. Before the blast on Saturday, he had travelled to Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well. Police had arrested Maaz Muneer Ahmed, 22, and Syed Yasin, 21, and recovered explosive materials from them. During the interrogation, they had said that “they were radicalised by Mohammed Shafiq and had learnt to make bombs through videos, PDF files and other materials sent to them by Shariq”. Investigations are still ongoing.
