NIA takes custody of cooker blast prime accused Shariq, moves him to B’luru

MANGALURU: The National Investigating Agency (NIA) on Saturday took custody of Mohammed Shariq, the prime suspect in the Mangaluru cooker blast case.

Shariq, who had suffered burn injuries when a low-intensity blast occurred in the autorickshaw he was travelling in, was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here under security cover.

With his recovery almost complete, the NIA on Saturday morning took him into custody and whisked him away to Bengaluru where they will continue questioning him.

The autorickshaw in which the pressure cooker IED went off.

Meanwhile, investigation has revealed that Shariq got items needed for assembing the IED delivered to lodges in Kochi. Footage from CCTV cameras shows Shariq’s movements in Kochi and it is now available to NIA team.

Shariq had booked a room at a Kochi lodge to receive items needed to assemble an IED and an NIA team has now seized the lodge records and CCTV footage. According to credible sources, all footage available has been recovered from lodges near Kochi’s Aluva railway station, Ernakulam and Northern railway station.

Shariq used to change lodges once in a 4-5 days. A parcel was received in his name at a lodge in Aluva even after he had vacated the room. Later, the lodge staff called Shariq and gave the parcel, it has come to light.