Bomb at MIA: Suspect had a second bag in his possession

Mangaluru: The investigation to trace the suspect who placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Mangaluru International Airport on Monday has revealed that the man detected in the CCTV footage was carrying another bag which he left behind at a shop before going to the airport.

The suspect, before going to the airport, had two bags with him when got on to a bus from the bus stop near State Bank of India here and alighted at Kenjar airport stop.

He went to a nearby salon and asked the staff to keep his bag there for some time, which they allowed and told him to keep it outside the salon, police sources said.

He then hired an auto rickshaw with the other bag with the IED to reach the airport.

After leaving the bag in the airport premises, he went back and collected the bag from the salon.

He left by the same auto rickshaw towards Kavoor, they said.

It is yet to be ascertained to which place he went from there and what he did with the other bag.

It is also not clear whether he had really wanted to detonate the explosive planted at the airport as the wires of the IED had not been properly connected and the timer was not in the ‘on’ position, the sources said.

They said his intention might have been to create a scare among the public or he went out of the airport in a huff before getting caught.