Searches by the Enforcement Directorate are underway at five locations in connection with its probe into the November 19 cooker blast in an auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru. The locations being searched include the residence of a suspected terrorist, Mohammed Shariq, the prime accused in the case, Maz Muneer and Mateen located in the Thirthahalli area of Shivamogga, Karnataka Home minister Araga Jnanendra said on Wednesday.
The minister further said that officials part of the searches are also collecting information from the relatives as well as houses neighbouring those of the accused in the case. Besides raiding the complex in Theerthahalli, the officials are also conducting searches at a shopping complex in Mangaluru’s Soppa Gouda area which belongs to Shariq’s father.
Incidentally, the complex also houses an office that the Congress party had rented on lease from Shariq’s father, reported India Today, adding that an agreement was signed between Shariq’s father and a relative of Congress leader Kimmane Rathnakar’s relative Naveen. The Congress leader has also been questioned in connection with the case, the report said.
The ED’s action comes after an explosion in a moving auto-rickshaw in November last year led to the unraveling of a sinister terror plot. The blast occurred when the accused, Shariq, was carrying an IED-based pressure cooker bomb to an unspecified location.
Days after the incident, investigative agencies unearthed Shariq’s alleged ISIS links and the case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency. Searches at the rented house of the accused led to the recovery of materials used to make explosives, such as gelatin powder, circuit boards, small bolts, batteries, mobile phones etc.