Mangaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday said a decision to hand over Mangaluru blast to NIA will be taken in next two days.
“A decision will be taken in next two days in this regard,” he told reporters here after visiting the blast site alongwith Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood.
The minister also visited injured autorickshaw driver Purshottam Poojary who is undergoing treatment in a hospital.
Janendra said Shariq, the accused, was using identity cards with a Hindu name and was frequently changing locations. “The accused travelled to Madurai, Coimbatore, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari and Kochi,” he said.
The minister said Shariq is also accused in the Mangaluru graffiti case and was granted bail by Karnataka High Court, and after that he went off the radar of the police.
Shariq was frequently changing locations and traveling to neighbouring states, Jnanedra said.
The entire treatment cost for the injured autorickshaw driver Purshottam Poojary will be borne by the state government, he said. “I will speak about it with the chief minister,” he said.
Jnanedra also handed over a cheque of Rs 50,000 as personal compensation to Poojary.
The minister said the accused is an expert in assembling a bomb by using locally-available items. “We have also informed the Centre to start an office of the NIA in Mangaluru,” he said.
Sood said the police will continue with its investigation till the case is handed over to NIA.
The police will get some more leads into the case after Shariq recovers fully, he said.
Shariq’s objective was to distrupt communal harmony and destabilise the country, the DGP said.
