Isha Foundation, religious places on ISIS target: Mangaluru cooker blast chargesheet reveals

Bengaluru: Holy places and tourist spots were on Shariq's (the accused in Mangaluru cooker blast case) radar as he had conducted recce in Karnataka and across South India, Republic TV has learnt. In the ongoing NIA investigation in the Mangaluru cooker blast case, it has been revealed that Shariq conducted a reccee in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka to select a target Shariq had conducted a recce in Nilgiris for 3 days between August 31 to September 2, staying at a lodge in Gudalur. The information regen He later shifted to Tamil Nadu using the identity of Arun Gouli. He had conducted a reccee in the Nilgiris hills, Ooty, Packer Waterfalls, Needle Rock Viewpoint and the Saint Sebastian church.

On September 2 he left Gudalur to Metupalyam and booked a lodge in the name of Arun Kumar Gouli and conducted reccee for two days. In the investigation, it was revealed that he had also switched off his mobile phone and went completely off the radar.

Coimbatore's Isha Foundation were on ISIS target

Shariq then reached Coimbatore and stayed in a dormitory near the bus stand and conducted a reccee till September 7. Shariq was at the Isha Foundation for four days where he clicked several pictures with the statue of Adiyogi. In the investigation, it was even revealed that he had also posted a picture from the Isha Foundation with the image of Adiyogi in the backdrop on his WhatsApp image profile. Meanwhile, after he had disposed of his old SIM card, he purchased a new SIM card from a private operator.

Coimbatore to Kanyakumari

Shariq had left from Coimbatore on September 7 and reached Nagercoil via Madurai on September 8. Shariq after conducting reccee reached Kanyakumari via Madurai and assumed a new identity by the name of Prem Kumar. He rented a room in a lodge near the bus stand. Shariq stayed for six days from September 8 to 13 during which he conducted reccee at Kanyakumari Beach, Kanika Parameshwari Temple, Vivekananda Statue, and Sunset View Point. Shariq went to Manakudi Beach View Point and a private Mart as well.

Kanyakumari to Kerala

Shariq then left for Kerala on September 13 and reached Aluva and booked a room at a lodge in Ernakulam. He stayed there for the next 6 days until September 18 under the identity of Prem Raj. In Kerala, Shariq reccees densely populated areas such as bus stands, malls and theatres. He visited the Kochi airport, railway station, Lulu mall, marine drive and Wellington Island. He also visited major beaches. He photographed and made videos of them to send all the digital data to his handler colonel. After this, he purchased a railway ticket to travel to Maharashtra on September 17 to Sholapur onboard the Pune express but canceled the journey at the last moment and didn't board the train. Shariq later stayed back in Kerala and searched for a house in Karnataka via online platforms.

Dark web, cryptocurrency: Finance and funding for terror operations

The dark web, cryptocurrency, fake identities funded Shareeq and ISIS' terror activities down south reveal NIA investigations in the chargesheet filed to the court.

It has now been revealed that Shariq was getting online payments through constant transfer to the account through cryptocurrency.

Managluru cooker blast case: Shariq's modus operandi

The money was being deposited to an account whose holder was a fictitious Saral Devi. The handler colonel had also sent an ATM card in the name of Saral Devi and Shariq had got the ATM card through Maaz Muneer Ahmed who was also one of the accused in the Shivamogga trial blast case. Shariq started using this ATM card only after the Shivamogga trial blast case and used to make payouts in cash only so as not to leave digital evidence behind.

Shariq was receiving funds into fraudulently obtained FINO Payments Bank Rupay Debit/ATM Card and linked mobile number. The said bank debit card along with SIM card was received by Mohamed Shariq through his associate Maaz Muneer Ahmed.

Mohamed Shariq lost his mobile phone in Mangaluru when he was conducting a recce, online handler 'Colonel' arranged another fraudulent obtained FINO Bank ATM card in the name of Pinki Bai Ahirwar, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, along with a linked SIM card of mobile number via DTDC courier on 25.10.2022. Further, Mohamed Shariq registered the said mobile number on the MEXC Crypto platform wherein he was receiving funds from online handler 'Colonel' to further the terror activities of the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) in India.

Investigation revealed that online handler 'Colonel' used to deposit Crypto Currencies into the MEXC Crypto wallets and accounts used by Mohamed Shariq. Further, he converted the said Crypto currencies into fiat money and Indian Rupee (INR) through Crypto traders on Telegram. He used to transfer the Cryptocurrencies into the accounts of Crypto traders and in turn, they transferred INR into the accounts used by Mohamed Shariq and also to the accounts of point of sales (POS) agents in Mysuru, whose UPI details were shared with Crypto traders by Mohamed Shariq. Further, Shariq used to get cash from these POS agents by paying them commissions. A day before the blast on 18.11.2022, Shariq got converted Cryptocurrencies into INR equivalent to Rs.41,680/- and withdrew the same from POS agents by paying commission and with a purpose to use the said amount during the absconding period after planting IED.

On 12.12.2022, a search was conducted at the house of witness Akshay Raj @ Royal Sonu who was a member of Telegram Groups "Bitcoin Mall", "BTC Empire", "BTC World" and "Supermarket BTC Mall who converted Cryptocurrencies into Indian Rupees for Shariq and his digital gadgets were seized.

The investigation further revealed that Shariq and Syed Yasin were using Binance and WazirX Crypto exchanges. The analysis of the data collected from Binance and WazirX reveals the financial transactions amongst them.