Mangaluru cooker blast accused Shariq sentenced to 10 years in jail by NIA court

BENGALURU: An NIA special court here has sentenced suspected terrorist Mohammad Shariq to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 in the Mangaluru cooker bomb blast case. The court awarded the sentence under multiple provisions, including Sections 121A, 122, 326 of the IPC, and the UAPA.

During sentencing, the judge asked, “You have been sentenced to these many years and fined… will you pay the fine?” Shariq replied that he would pay it later.

Shariq was convicted on 16 charges and had sought a reduced sentence, telling the court that he has a daughter and is the sole earning member of his family. After considering his plea, the court confirmed the 10-year rigorous imprisonment.

Shariq also requested a transfer to Shivamogga jail, saying three years had passed, he was unable to take his medicines properly, and he could not meet his family. The judge, Kemparaju, responded that Bengaluru has better health facilities than Shivamogga and that the current prison is safer. The court did not accept the request for now, stating that a decision would depend on the length of the sentence and that a transfer was not possible at present.

Shariq is originally from Tirthahalli in Shivamogga district. Even before the Mangaluru case, a case had been registered against him at the Shivamogga Rural police station. A trial blast case was registered on September 19, 2022, against Shariq, Maaz, and Yaseen, with Shariq listed as Accused No. 1 in the Thirthahalli Tunga riverbank trial blast case.

The trial blast case came to light during the investigation of the Prem Singh stabbing case. Yaseen, who is Accused No. 3 in the trial blast case, was friends with Jabi, the main accused in the stabbing. Information related to terror activities was found at Jabi’s house and on his mobile during that investigation.

Syed Yasin and Maz jointly conducted the trial blasts at isolated locations in various places of the state.

Following this, police registered a case against Shariq, Maaz Muneer Ahmed, and Yaseen. The case was personally investigated by then Shivamogga SP B.M. Lakshmi Prasad. After confirming terror links, Shivamogga police added UAPA charges, after which the NIA took over the probe.

Shariq, the son of cloth merchant Haseem, is a B.Com graduate who later ran a cloth business. He was influenced by ISIS and used the dark web to contact handlers. Initially, he took responsibility for the Islamic Resistance Council before aligning with ISIS.

He was arrested in 2020 in Mangaluru in connection with the ‘Lashkar-e-Taiba Zindabad’ wall graffiti case under UAPA and was later released on bail. In 2022, he was involved in the Thirthahalli trial blast and was subsequently arrested in the Mangaluru cooker blast case.

Three months ago, Shariq submitted a confession petition to the court regarding the cooker bomb blast, which the NIA Special Court accepted. NIA SPP Prasanna Kumar requested stringent punishment for the accused, leading to today’s sentencing.

The NIA filed its chargesheet against Shariq in 2024. According to the NIA chargesheet, the Mangaluru cooker bomb blast took place on November 19, 2022, around 4.30 pm near Kankanady in Mangaluru. The explosion occurred while the bomb was being transported in an auto-rickshaw. The blast happened because the timer was set for 9 minutes instead of 90 minutes. The accused was allegedly carrying the bomb to detonate it near Kadri Temple and was inspired by an ISIS module.

In addition, Shariq was an accused in the Shivamogga trial blast and was the mastermind of the trial blast on the banks of the Tunga tiver. He was also an accused in the Mangaluru wall graffiti case.

From the NIA Chargesheet

The NIA filed a chargesheet against Shariq in 2024.

The Mangaluru cooker bomb blast occurred on November 19, 2022.

The cooker bomb exploded around 4.30 pm.

The blast took place near Kankanady in Mangaluru.

The explosion happened while the cooker bomb was being transported in an auto.

The blast occurred because the timer was set for 9 minutes instead of 90 minutes.

The accused was allegedly carrying the bomb to carry out a blast near Kadri Temple.

The accused was inspired by an ISIS module.

Shariq was also an accused in the Shivamogga trial blast.

Shariq was the mastermind of the trial blast that took place on the banks of the Tunga River.

He was also an accused in the Mangaluru wall graffiti case.