MYSURU: Even as the Karnataka police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are leaving no stone unturned to gather all possible information and leads in connection with Mohammed Shariq, 24, the prime suspect in the Mangaluru blast, it has now been established that he not only faked his identity to rent a room in Mysuru but had used the photo of Lord Shiva as his WhatsApp display picture to cover his identity.
Prasad, the owner of SMM Institute of Servicing located on D Banumaiah Road in Mysuru, where Shariq had enrolled for a 45-day mobile repair and computer hardware course, said, “Shariq had enrolled with us by providing an Aadhaar card which mentioned his name as Premraj.”
He said, “We updated the students on class details and other things related to the course through WhatsApp. That’s when we noticed that he had used a photo of Lord Shiva as his display picture. He was very irregular to the course and attended just about 20 classes till date.”
Prasad also revealed that Shariq had introduced himself as a native of Hubballi and had come to Mysuru for a call centre job which he said would start in the next 15-20 days and till then he wished to learn mobile phone repairing. “I once questioned him upon noticing a photo of a Kerala registered bike as his mobile screensaver. He said the bike belonged to his friend from Kerala,” said Prasad.
Meanwhile, Prasad said that as part of the training he had given Shariq the task of getting 10 mobile phones from the usual supplier to the institute and expressed shock that he never expected Shariq would be involved in an ‘act of terror’.
The evidence collected from Shariq’s room at Lokanayakanagar in Mysuru was wrapped in sealed covers and sent to Mangaluru. Sources revealed that the evidence included multimeter wires, small bolts, circuit boards, batteries, sulphur, phosphorus, wooden powder and other objects.