Eight expert doctors are attending to Mohammed Shariq, the Mangaluru cooker bomb accused, at a private hospital in the city, according to Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra. On November 23, the Home Minister announced that a decision on ‘formally’ handing over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will be taken in a day or two.
Director General and Inspector General of Police Praveen Sood said that the NIA will take over the case at an appropriate time.
He informed mediapersons, “In any case involving the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a report is sent to the NIA immediately. The State Government sent a report on the Mangaluru blast to November 19 the NIA through the Ministry of Home Affairs on November 22 evening. The NIA and other Central agencies are involved in the investigation right from the beginning. Since financial transactions are involved, all agencies are working together. Formally, it (the Mangaluru case) will be taken over by the NIA at an appropriate time.”
The Home Minister told reporters that investigation so far has revealed that, before arriving in Mangaluru on November 19, Shariq had visited Kanyakumari, Madurai, Nagarcoil and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, and Kochi in Kerala.
Karnataka police are collecting evidence and identifying witnesses to ensure conviction of the accused, the Home Minister said.
Shariq is yet to be questioned by the police.
Karnataka Government will bear the entire cost of treatment of Purushottama Poojary, the injured autorickshaw driver, who is being treated in the same hospital. In addition, the government will examine whether the driver can be helped financially.
Asked about demand to set up an office of NIA in Mangaluru, the Minister said that the matter has been brought to the notice of the Union Government, which ‘is positive about it’.
According to the Minister, Shariq had been arrested in a graffiti case registered in Mangaluru in November 2020. But, once he was released on bail by the Karnataka High Court, tracking him became difficult as he was frequently shifting from one place to another and was using fake identity cards.
Earlier, the Home Minister visited the blast site at Kankanady and met the injured autorickshaw driver. He handed over a cheque of ₹50,000 to the driver as his personal contribution.
