The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against two accused in the “Islamic State-sponsored” pressure cooker blast that took place in Mangaluru in Karnataka in November last year.
The accused have been identified as Mohamed Shariq and Syed Yasin. As alleged, Mohamed Shariq, had been carrying the pressure cooker improvised explosive device in an auto-rickshaw when it had exploded on November 19, 2022.
He had allegedly planned to plant the bomb at Kadri Manjunatha Temple in Mangaluru, “with the aim to create terror among the Hindu community”.
“However, the low intensity bomb accidentally exploded on the way,” the agency said.
The Delhi unit of NIA had registered the case on November 23, 2022, under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act 1908. “Shariq was arrested by the NIA in July 2023, along with his co-accused, Syed Yasin. The NIA today filed a chargesheet prosecuting both the arrested accused,” it said.
According to the NIA, both the accused had planned the explosion along with an online handler, “as part of a conspiracy to establish a Caliphate”. In pursuance of the conspiracy, Shariq had prepared the pressure cooker IED, and Syed Yasin had provided material support for the explosive.
The agency said Shariq had first come on the radar of security forces in November 2020 when he was arrested by the State police for pro-terror graffiti in Mangaluru city. He and his associates had put up the graffiti in support of the global terror outfit, the Islamic State (IS).
Shariq was also named in the Shivamogga IS conspiracy case registered by the NIA’s Delhi unit last year, in which 10 accused have been arrested so far. Nine of the arrested accused, including Shariq and Yasin, were chargesheeted on June 30 for allegedly radicalising and recruiting gullible Muslim youth, raising funds, and for conducting a trial explosion.
