Bomb explosion in auto rickshaw: Suspect had terror links, says Karnataka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said the suspect who allegedly carried out a bomb explosion in Mangaluru had terror links as he had travelled to various places including Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil NaduAccording to the preliminary information it was an LEDlinked instrument the Chief Minister told reporters hereThe blast occurred on Saturday evening inside an auto rickshaw near a police station leaving the passenger and the driver injured Both have been admitted to hospitalAccording to police sources a cooker fitted with detonator wires and batteries were used to trigger the blast After the explosion the interiors of the autorickshaw were badly damagedWhen the antecedents of the suspect was carried out it becomes very apparent that the name mentioned in the Aadhaar card found from the spot was different from the person who was carrying it The suspect had a duplicate Aadhaar card It had a Hubballi address Bommai saidThe Chief Minister said more details emerged when the police tracked the original address of the suspect and the locations where he had stayedPrima facie this is a terror act The places he had travelled to such as Coimbatore or any other places clearly point to his terror link Bommai saidHe added that the National Investigation Agency NIA and Intelligence Bureau IB officials have also joined the state police in investigating the matter A fourmember team of the NIA has arrived at the spot and are coordinating with the policeThe suspect is in the hospital After he regains consciousness further investigation will be taken up Investigation will reveal more details There is a wide network which will be busted he saidWhen his attention was drawn towards the fact that the incident occurred on the day he was in Mangaluru the Chief Minister said he had attended the programme in the coastal city and returned from there at 3 pm whereas the blast happened after thatAlso Read Shraddha Walkar murder Police call 3 more people to record statementsRegarding the terror incidents link with the banned outfit Popular Front of India Bommai said the investigation will reveal the truthMeanwhile police sources said the suspect had obtained a mobile SIM card using the fake Aadhaar card which was found from the site of explosion That SIM card was used everywhere by him they saidSources added that five teams have been dispatched to different locations including Coimbatore to investigate the casePolice suspect that the person had links with those who had carried out a car blast in Coimbatore in October ahead of Deepavali On October 23 a youth was charred to death when a cylinder exploded in a moving car outside a temple in Coimbatore The case is being probed by the NIAThe police sources suspected that the terror suspect hailed from Shivamogga and might have been involved in the objectionable graffiti in the townRecently a few terror suspects were arrested from Shivamogga including some youth who were in touch with the terror outfit Islamic State IS through social mediaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever