Pressure cookers, gelatin sticks, relay circuits, wires and explosives of different kinds – the Karnataka Police have picked up at least 50 items during their searches at the Mysuru residence of Mohammed Shariq, the main suspect who was in the passenger seat of the autorickshaw when a bomb in the pressure cooker exploded in Mangaluru on Saturday.
Forensic reports suggest that potassium nitrate, sulphur and phosphorus were the key ingredients. Police suspect the phosphorus used in the improvised explosive device (IED) was chipped from match sticks, the sulphur from local chemical shops and other ingredients from e-commerce platforms.
Additional director general of police (ADGP) Alok Kumar told News18 that using phosphorus from match sticks was seen in the Shimoga case too. “A trial blast was carried out on the banks of the Tungabhadra river in Shivamogga in September 2022. There, too, the IED used phosphorus from matchsticks,” he said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the Shimoga case, in which a 21-year-old electrical engineer from Shivamogga, Syed Yasin, and a 22-year-old engineering student Maaz Muneer have been arrested. Police suspect Mangaluru accused Shariq was part of the conspiracy and absconded when a manhunt was launched for him in this case.
HANDLER IN DUBAI?
Karnataka Police said that Shariq?s main handler is suspected to be based in Dubai. “Abdul Mateen Taha is the main handler. He is a suspect in the Al-Hind ISIS Bengaluru module case. His house in Teerthahalli in Karnataka was raided by the NIA in May 2020. He has a bounty of Rs 3 lakh on his head,? Kumar said.
SIM location details of Shariq analysed by police show he was in Coimbatore on September 3 and 4. Police are checking the people he met and places he visited during the stay. ?So far, there is no evidence to suggest that Shaqir knew Jameesha Mubin, the main accused in last month’s Coimbatore blast. But both could have known a common set of people. That is being probed,” a Coimbatore probe official told News18.
Initial probe suggests that from Coimbatore, Shariq travelled to Nagarcoil and also Aluva in Kerala. ?He stayed at the Kerala address for a week and took delivery of a parcel that he ordered via Amazon. We are writing to them to ascertain the contents of the parcel,” a top officer told News18.
The suspicion is that some contents of the IED could have been procured online.
MAN WHO ?TOOK PITY? ON SHARIQ, HELPED HIM GET SIM CARD
Police are also probing one Surendran, who helped Shariq procure a SIM card during his stay. Surendran reportedly told investigators that he took pity on Shariq and allowed him to get a SIM on his Aadhaar card. ?Surendran claims Shariq looked like a young man who was lost and needed help, so he gave him his Aadhaar details. But we are probing this further,? a source revealed.
Agencies probing the case so far have found that multiple fake Aadhaar identities were used by Shariq as he moved from place to place before he reached Mysuru. He stayed in Mysuru for two months before making the journey to Mangaluru with the pressure cooker IED.
COIMBATORE CONNECTION
Both Mangalore and Coimbatore blasts appear to be handiwork of ISIS module. While Coimbatore bomber Mubin is suspected to be a suicide bomber, who died in the explosion before reaching his targeted destination, Shariq seems to be an Islamic State (IS or ISIS) operative who was given the task to plant the bomb at a location to cause maximum damage. ?It is suspected that he travelled from Mysuru to Mangaluru on a bus and then took the auto from Nagori Bus Station to Pumpwell Junction. The friction during the travel could have led to the IED going off on the way. We will know what his final destination was only after questioning the suspect,” an officer said.
The nature of explosives used in Coimbatore and Mangaluru was similar, but officials point out that the Mangaluru bomb was a complete IED using low-grade explosives, while Coimbatore one was only explosives and nuts and bolts lying in the car.
In the Coimbatore case, initial probe suggests Mubin learnt from an online bomb-making tutorial. While in the Mangaluru case, PDF files and bomb making literature have been found. Shariq is also suspected to be the person who radicalised others in his module.
The NIA is yet to take over the Mangaluru case, but multi-agency probe has been launched to know the details of finances in both the cases.
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