M’luru blast: HM Araga Jnanendra, DGP Praveen Sood visit spot

Mangaluru: Home Minister Araga Jnanendra and Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood on Wednesday, November 23 visited the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast spot.

Both Home Minister and DGP collected information regarding the blast from the investigating officers. MLA Bharat Shetty was also present.

Araga Jnanedra also visited the hospital where the victim and the suspect are undergoing treatment for burn injuries.

Meanwhile, alarming information has been uncovered that Mohammed Shariq and his associates were receiving financial assistance from Gulf countries for carrying out acts of terrorism in various parts of the country including coastal Karnataka.

Shariq and his accomplices were working under the direction of one, Arafat Ali, who has been in hiding in the Gulf. He offered them financial help and was also in close contact with Abdul Mateen Taha of IS-inspired terror outfit Al-Hind, police sources said.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is also involved in covert investigations into the contacts and accomplices of Shariq.

On November 22 Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said the state government has taken serious note of the Mangaluru blast case.

“We have taken it (Mangaluru blast case) seriously keeping in view the national security,” Bommai told reporters.

Tension prevailed in communally-sensitive Mangaluru city in Dakshina Kannada district following the mysterious explosion in the moving auto. Initially, the police were probing whether it was a case of a fire mishap or blast.

However, Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood on Sunday said that the incident was not an accident.

“It’s confirmed now. The blast was not accidental but an act of terror with the intention to cause serious damage. The police are probing the matter along with Central agencies,” the DGP tweeted.