BENGALURU: A Twitter user, who goes by the handle @latestabdul, took to the microblogging site on Monday claiming responsibility for the Church Street blast. By evening, the city police arrested him.
The user, who calls himself Abdul Khan, had been threatening to bomb a college for a while, and had tagged members of the police force and politicians in these tweets. On Monday morning, he posted a tweet warning of another blast “in two days” and dared the police to nab him.
After arresting him, the city police told Express that he was a “psychologically-stressed” 17-year-old Hindu. Police Commissioner M N Reddi brushed off the youth's claim that he had set off the bomb. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Abhishek Goyal said the incident reinforces the point that social media should be used responsibly.
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There were rumours of blasts through the day in parts of the city, but the police were quick to deny the reports and ask the public not to pay any heed to rumours.
In a timeline filled with abuses directed at a wide range of people, including Reddi, Goyal, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abdul had warned on December 21 that he would “attack” and “bomb” Alvas College in Moodbidri, Dakshina Kannada, if alleged ISIS sympathiser Mehdi Masroor Biswas was not released by the police.
On December 22, ‘Abdul’ had tweeted to Commissioner Reddi, “Let’s start the game, Karnataka Police cannot catch us.”
He had added that he would kill at least a thousand people.
He had also tweeted to known ISIS members seeking funds, promising to “blast all of India” if needed.