Blast suspect offered prayers at Padil mosque before getting into auto

MANGALURU: The suspect in the Mangaluru cooker blast case, Mohammed Shariq, offered prayers at a mosque in Padil before he got into an autorickshaw.

Meanwhile, a photograph of him posing with a pressure cooker was found at his house, giving rise to speculation whether it was the same cooker he was carrying in the autorickshaw.

Shariq, who arrived in Mangaluru from Mysuru, disembarked at Padil. After visiting the mosque, he walked up to Naguri along with the cooker and had planned to go all the way up to Pumpwell, but then took an auto, police sources said.

The police visited the mosque but could not get any footage of him inside as there is no CCTV camera installed.

The auto driver Purushotham Pujar undergoing treatment at hospital.

Meanwhile, his family member, who were called to the Father Muller Hospital to identify him, were taken from the police commissioner’s office in the afternoon to the Kankanady police station by the team of investigators led by Additional SP P A Hegde.

Mangaluru Police Commissioner N Shashikumar giving an health update about the blast suspect and the auto driver.

City Police Commissioner N Shashikumar said, “Both the suspect Shariq and the auto driver Purushotham Pujar are being treated at hospital. Purushotham is in a position to speak and his vitals are stable, but he has suffered burn injuries. We haven’t been able to question Shariq as his treatment is continuing. His family identified him today morning, but we are not sure about his health condition.”