Mangaluru autorickshaw blast an act of terror, declares DG&IGP Praveen Sood

BENGALURU, MANGALURU: Director General and Inspector General of Police Praveen Sood on Sunday said the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast, in which the driver and a passenger suffered serious injuries, is an act of terror.

Taking to Twitter, the DG&IGP posted, “It’s confirmed now. The blast is not accidental but an ACT OF TERROR with intention to cause serious damage. Karnataka State Police is probing deep into it along with central agencies”.

Police squad, bomb disposal squads and canine squad arrived and inspecting the spot.

Meanwhile, the Mangaluru police have found suspicious objects in the autorickshaw in which a mysterious blast occurred at Naguri in Mangaluru on Saturday evening. The police found nuts, bolts, batteries, circuitry wires inside the auto and suspect that a low intensity improvised explosive device caused the blast. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) squad and bomb disposal unit are conducting examination at the spot.

The blast incident captured in the CCTV camera.

The passenger in the autorickshaw was identified as Prem Raj Kanogi from an ID card that he was carrying. He hired the auto near Naguri and was on the way to the Mangaluru Junction railway station. Naguri is just 1 km away from the spot where the blast occurred. The police also found Rs 30,000 in cash on Prem Raj’s person.

Bomb disposal squad checking the place.

The police have also seized Prem Raj’s mobile phone. Initial investigations points that the Aadhaar card found with him, with a Hubballi address, could be fake. The police are yet to record his statement as he is unconscious in hospital. He has suffered about 50 per cent burns due to the intensity of the blast and is in a critical condition.

Prem Raj is learnt to be hailing from Mysuru and a police team has reached there. Other teams have been dispatched to different parts of the state. The auto driver too could not give out proper information to the police.

Police inspecting the sport and marking the place, where the incident occured

Prem Raj had apparently given the phone number of one Anna Babu Rao when he was conscious. But when the police called the number, Babu Rao claimed that Prem was not his  relative. He said Prem earlier lived in his room, but had later gone to Bengaluru.

A NIA team from Bengaluru is expected to arrive in Mangaluru to take up further investigation. Meanwhile, the Mangaluru police are probing the incident from all angles.

The Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) of Karnataka Praveen Sood tweeted about mysterious blast in the auto, stated that, it is confirmed now. The blast is not accidental, but an act of terror with intention to cause serious damage. Karnataka State Police is probing deep into it along with central agencies.

DGP Karnataka stated that it was an act of terror