Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said that Saturday’s blast in Mangaluru has been prima facie found to be a terror act and exuded the confidence that the State Police will arrest the culprits responsible for the act.
Speaking to media representatives in Ballari, the Chief Minister said that an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used in the blast and the State Police, along with the National Investigation Agency (NAI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), are investigating the case.
“You all know that there was a blast in an autorickshaw in Mangaluru at about 4.45 p.m. The auto driver and the passenger were injured and admitted to a hospital. Our police have taken it seriously and are probing into the incident. The person who was carrying the pressure cooker [in which the IED was kept] had fake a Aadhaar card,” he said.
“Preliminary probe has established that it was a terror act. NIA and IB are already probing into the case. Once the unconscious patient gets back his consciousness, the investigation will gather momentum. Preliminary investigation has shown that the person [who was carrying the explosive] has a terror link and the police will crack the network that is behind the blast,” Mr. Bommai told presspersons.
The Chief Minister was in Ballari for attending the Scheduled Tribes conference organised by his party.
