Mangaluru: Mohammed Shariq, 24, the alleged bomber in the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast case, was “influenced by a terror organisation that has a global presence,” Alok Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Karnataka, said at a press conference in Mangaluru on Monday.
Mr. Kumar named Arafat Ali, now holed up in Dubai, as Shariq’s “immediate handler”, who was in turn handled by Abdul Matheen Taha, a wanted terror accused in Islamic State (IS) offshoot Al Hind ISIS Bengaluru module case.
The module based out of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had allegedly aimed to create an “IS province” in the jungles of south India. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has put Taha in the most wanted list. The NIA is expected to take over the Mangaluru blast probe.
