BENGALURU/MANGALURU : Mohammad Shariq, the prime suspect in the Mangaluru cooker bomb blast case, has been shifted to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru for further treatment. Shariq was undergoing treatment at Fr Muller’s Hospital in Mangaluru ever since he was hospitalised after the blast which took place at Naguri. “He was shifted to Bengaluru on Saturday morning as per the recommendation of the doctors and the authorities,” said City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar.
Shariq had suffered 45% burns and after his condition improved, the city police had questioned him and the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Now, as he will be treated at Victoria Hospital, NIA will continue to question him.
Dr K T Ramesh, Head of Department, Plastic Surgery and Burns, Victoria Hospital told TNIE, “Mohammed Shariq was admitted to the burns ward on Saturday morning. After assessing his health condition and the treatment he has been given so far, the next course of treatment will be decided.” Dr Ramesh, however, refused to divulge more details. Security has been beefed up at the hospital.
The low-intensity blast had occurred inside an autorickshaw on November 19 at Naguri on the outskirts of Mangaluru, injuring the driver Purushotham Poojary and the passenger and prime accused Shariq.
The FIR registered by the NIA has stated that they recovered a 5-litre pressure cooker, 3 nine volt batteries, a damaged circuit and other material required to prepare an IED, from the blast spot. During the investigation, it was found that Shariq had stayed at a lodge in Coimbatore and he was in contact with Jameesha Mubeen, a suicide bomber of the ISIS.
The investigation agencies had claimed that Shariq had links with a global terror organisation. He, along with his accomplice Maaz Muneer, another accused in a terror graffiti case in Mangaluru, had attended a training camp in Madikeri. During the probe, it was also found he had received financial support from abroad in bitcoins.So far, there is no clear information as to where Shariq was heading to plant the bomb and whether he was a lone wolf or had arrived in the city along with his associates.