NIA takes Mangaluru cooker blast accused Shariq to Tirthahalli trial blast site

MANGALURU/SHIVAMOGGA: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the Mangaluru cooker blast and the trial blast conducted near Tirthahalli in Shivamogga district, on Wednesday inspected the spot of the trial blast on the Tungabhadra river banks along with the prime accused Mohammed Shariq and Mohammad Zabiullah after getting 10 days custody of Shariq. The officials also inspected the government bus stand in Shivamogga and near Bright Hotel.

Shariq had sustained critical injuries in the cooker blast at Mangaluru and underwent treatment for several months. Soon after his recovery, the NIA took him to custody and has started investigation.

Mohammad Zabiullah is a prime accused in the case of stabbing of Premchand in Shivamogga. His link with the ISIS terror group were revealed later during interrogation. Following Zabiullah’s arrest, his associates Yasin and Mateen Maz were also caught by the police.

According to credible sources, Shariq had planned to plant the cooker bomb in the shoe stand in front of the Kadri temple. The NIA officials inspected the spot too.

The NIA officials plan to take into their custody two other terror suspects, Mateen Maz and Syed Yasin. They have been accused of jointly conducting trial blasts at isolated locations in various places of the state and are currently in prison now. The NIA may conduct a spot inspection along with them where the cooker blast occurred in Mangaluru and also in Tirthahalli where a trial blast was conducted.

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

The police have arrested eight accused in connection with the trail blast case. During interrogation, the arrested accused are said to have given statements about Shariq’s involvement. Officials will question Maz and Yasin together.  Once their questioning is over, they will prepare for the submission of the chargesheet.

In yet another interesting twist in the case, it has come to light that raw materials for preparing the cooker bomb were purchased through e-commerce platform Amazon. He used to purchase raw materials by giving the names and addresses of his friends. Shariq purchased detonators in the name of Prem Raj using a fake Aadhaar card at his Mysuru address. The items would reach Shariq after changing four hands.

According to the sources, the Mangaluru cooker blast investigation has almost reached its final stage. The NIA officials have gathered statements from all the accused along with evidence and required documents and are expected to file a chargesheet soon.