BENGALURU: The November 19 blast in an autorickshaw in Mangaluru, in which key accused Mohammed Shariq (24) and autorickshaw driver Purushottam were injured, is an eye-opener on the emerging incidents of highly radicalised youth indulging in terrorist activities either alone or in fragmented and small networks to evade detection.
This was Shariq’s third attempt at a terror-related activity since November 2020, in which he and an engineering student, Mazz Muneer Ahmed (21), were involved in the terror graffiti case in Mangaluru. Shariq was wanted in the Shivamogga blast and burning of the national flag case in September this year, in which Ahmed and another engineering graduate Syed Yasin (21), with alleged affiliation to the banned terrorist outfit Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS), were arrested.
Investigation had revealed that they were mentored by Shariq, who went underground after he was released on bail in the graffiti case. The fact that the pressure cooker with the improvised explosive device (IED) that Shariq was carrying went off before its time proves it was an amateur attempt at bomb-making with batteries, wires, nuts and bolts and explosive chemicals that are easily available in the market.
How many indoctrinated youth in state? Investigation on
The blast, however, has created enough panic in the state raising questions of national security and the number of anonymous highly radicalised youth, who have been indoctrinated and recruited online by hardened jehadis outside the country who brainwash them into believing that their community is a victim of state policies, sources said.
Shariq is one among the other youth who have either been arrested or under surveillance in terror-related cases post the protests against the CAA and NRC in December 2020. In August, the CCB and IB arrested Akhtar Hussain – an allegedly highly radicalised youth from Assam – in Bengaluru and his associate Adil alias Zuba from Salem in TN in a joint operation. Sources said, Akhtar and Zuba were reportedly “identified by the banned global terror organization - Al Qaeda for global jihad. They may have taken up the assignment when tasked with it to prove their readiness and commitment to jihad,” said sources.
In August, the Shivamogga police arrested Md Zabiullah (30), Tanveer Ahmed (22), Nadeem Faisal (25) and Abdul Rehman (25) on charges of stabbing Prem Singh (20) during the Independence Day clashes over displaying the poster of Veer Savarkar in the city. Investigation revealed that Zabiullah was allegedly “indoctrinated by Jaish-e-Mohammed to engineer violence in the state,” said informed sources.
On August 6, 2021, NIA arrested Jufri Jawhar Damudi (30) from Bhatkal in an ISIS recruitment case. He is the brother of Adnan Hasan Damudi who was arrested by NIA for ISIS-related activities in 2016 after being deported from the UAE. He was close to Sultan Armar, also from Bhatkal and the chief recruiter of ISIS in India.
Sultan and his sibling Shafi were close to ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and were killed in Syria and Afghanistan. Among the other radicalised youth from Karnataka are Arafath Ali, Musabbir Hussain and Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa. NIA has announced Rs 3 lakh reward for information leading to the arrest of Matheen, who is wanted in Al-Hind ISIS Bengaluru module case, which is behind the murder of a TN Hindu leader.