Exclusive/ Mangaluru cooker blast case: NIA chargesheet reveals terror plot and connection to Shivamogga blast

Bengaluru: The NIA chargesheet in the Mangaluru cooker bomb blast case reveals connections between the Shivamogga and Mangaluru blast case.

In November 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had filed a chargesheet in court in the Mangaluru cooker bomb case. The incident relates to a cooker that exploded on November 19, 2022 at 4.40 pm in an autorickshaw at Padi in the Kankanady police station limits.

The auto driver, Purshottham, and one Mohammed Shariq suffered burn injuries due to the explosion of the cooker bomb in the vehicle. A case was registered at Kankanady police station in connection with the incident and was later transferred to the NIA.

Tracking the accused

A person identified as Prem Singh was stabbed to death in Shivamogga on August 15, 2022. Two people were arrested in the Prem Singh stabbing case, identified as Zabiullah and Nadeem Faisal. A case was registered at Doddapet police station in this regard. 

Mohammad Shariq was also involved in the incident and was absconding after that. He had gone absconding to Ulaibettu in Mangaluru from Shivamogga and was staying with Ansar, who was with him in jail. 

Both of them were arrested in the Mangaluru “Lashkar Zindabad” case. Shariq stayed in Mangaluru and got in touch with Syed Yasin, an accused in the Shivamogga trial blast case.

Shariq was in constant touch with his handler, Colonel, and they were talking through Vicker Me, Signal and a wire app.

Shariq stayed in Mangaluru from August 15 to 19 and returned to Theerthahalli on the morning of August 20. Later, he started collecting matchsticks for accumulating phosphorus and also instructed Syed Yasin to do the same for Shivamogga trial blast and Mangaluru cooker blast.

The cops intensified searches for the accused in the Prem Singh stabbing incident in Shivamogga. They checked Zabiullah and Nadeem Faisal's mobile and found links to the Islamic State (ISIS) on Zabiullah's mobile phone. 

Shariq came to know about this on August 28 and immediately informed Colonel, who instructed him to leave town. Before that, Shariq met Syed Yasin near the Nadti river bridge in Theerthahalli and handed over the phosphorus powder to Yasin. 

Yasin gave Shariq a time relay circuit, which had been assembled for the trial blast. After this, Shariq left for Bengaluru.

Connection between Shivamogga trial blast case and Mangaluru cooker bomb case

The trial blast took place on the instructions of Shariq and Colonel. Syed Yasin conducted the trial blast using an improvised explosive device or IED on the banks of the Tunga river in Shivamogga.

There were several reasons for conducting the trial blast, which include:

1) To see whether the IED functioned well and there were no problems in it, and also to know about the intensity of the explosions.

2) It was also a plan to instil confidence in the youth who were being radicalised by the group by uploading videos on social media

3) Preparing for an attack in the coming days, such as Wolf attack (attacking VIPs and VVIPs), and driving heavy vehicles against establishment planned on the lines of a suicide attack.

It was Colonel who had instructed Shariq to conduct the trial blasts. Shariq supplied raw material for the trial blast. Syed Yasin, who was arrested in connection with the trial blast, assembled the bomb and prepared a timer for it.

After the arrest of accused Syed Yasin in connection with the trial blast case, Shariq went underground and absconded. 

In the investigation, Syed Yasin informed the cops about the entire nexus and operation. He also spoke about the ISIS ideologies and its aim to establish an Islamic Caliphate in 2047.

Shariq went missing in the last week of August, after travelling to Mysuru, where he had stayed at a lodge for a few days. In Mysuru, Shariq had assumed a different identity and also given a fake Aadhaar card of a person named Arun Kumar Gouli.