Mangalore blast: Why the act of terror by an accused on bail is a wake-up call for security agencies

The autorickshaw blast that rocked Mangalore on 19 November 2022, around 4 pm, in which the auto driver and the passenger were seriously injured, was initially regarded as an ordinary explosion. It was only the next day when DGP Praveen Sood tweeted that it is an act of terror and will be investigated accordingly. The NIA lost no time in taking up the investigation of this sensational case. During the course of the investigation, it came to light that the identity papers, primarily the Aadhaar card of the passenger, Premraj, were fake and allegedly stolen.

The auto driver, Purushottam Pujari, in his statement to the police mentioned clearly, that the passenger was carrying something heavy which turned out to be the pressure cooker bomb having items like nails, metal pieces, Duracell pen light batteries et. During the search for the rented room of Sharik, who posed as Prem Raj, considerable incriminating material was recovered like electronic circuitry used in fabricating IEDs, metal scrap pieces which could be used for making explosives, objectionable incendiary literature which could be traced back to Zakir Naik, were found in his smartphone. The police probe revealed that Sharik was no novice to this deviant lifestyle and was involved in the Shimoga blast that took place in September. This blast is also being investigated by the NIA.

Further enquiries revealed that Sharik is a resident of Sopugudde in Shimoga district, a hamlet of about 100 families. He is a highly radicalised individual, who made it publicly known that he wanted to establish Caliphate in India and brazenly said that he had nothing to do with the Hindus. As per his maternal aunt, he became a devout person, started sporting a beard, offering namaz five times a day and continuously talked about Allah, ibadat and namaaz. He was planning sensational explosions in Mangalore and openly boasted that he was about to do something dramatic. after which where he will go to the other world and meet the promised 72 hoors as a special reward for such people. Sharik openly proclaimed that this world is an illusion and he and his family should avoid all association with Hindus.

In February 2020 the walls of Shimoga were plastered with objectionable slogans, supporting ISIS and the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Shariq was arrested as an accused in this case also but his father managed to get him released on bail. The police also recovered maps and blueprints of many Hindu temples in Mangalore and neighbouring areas from the rented accommodation of Sharik which goes to show the long-term planning that he was working on.

Sharik applied himself to the task and succeeded in getting funds through cryptocurrency. He would surreptitiously gain entry into Hindu temples and prepare elaborate sketches, focussing on entry, exits and the sanctum sanctorum. He also studied some children’s parks as potential targets. With the help of his associates, he acquired considerable proficiency in the fabrication of IEDs.

Obviously, this does not happen in a day and more shocking is the fact that this village in question is the home of five dreaded terrorists, in a radius of fewer than a hundred metres! The first one is Abdul Mateen, who is at a stone’s throw distance from the house of Sharik. The NIA is searching for Mateen since 2019 as he is reported to be in Dubai. An engineering dropout and an active member of Al-Hind, the Indian module of ISIS, he has also been entrusted to create a network of ISIS in India as also to prepare a roadmap of terrorist attacks.

Apart from this, he has also been assigned the role to recruit terrorists and mobilise funds for them. It is reported that Shariq was in close contact with Arafat Ali, another accused of the September Shimoga blast, who also happens to be a neighbour of Mateen! The story does not end here, Arafat and Sharik are very good friends of Maz Munir and Syed Yasin who were earlier arrested in connection with the Shimoga blast!

Thus the police uncovered a gang of five hardened terrorists living in close proximity, about 60 km away from Shimoga, an important district headquarters. How and why they were allowed to operate with impunity is a question that law enforcement agencies and the intelligence department will have to address because every ingredient of anti-national activity and terrorism was perpetrated by this evil gang of five.

The recovery of such sensitive materials like explosives, objectionable literature, blueprints and maps of Hindu temples goes to indicate that there is a long-term plan to terrorise the area. Five hardened and wanted criminals were living in close proximity and one of them Shariq was out on bail. The audacity to orchestrate the three-wheeler blast that had the potential to blow up a full-sized bus goes on to show that there was poor follow-up and surveillance mechanism.

All these accused should have been kept on a tight leash. The technology today allows law enforcement agencies to keep a tab on repeat offenders like Sharik. Facial recognition software, deep learning tools in CCTV and artificial intelligence inputs cannot only flag and identify but also alert law enforcement agencies about the movement of such suspects and bad characters to facilitate preemptive and preventive action.

Sharik is a classic case of radicalisation by malignant elements like Zakir Naik. It is beyond the scope of the police to tackle this hydra-headed menace on its own. It is for the government and society to come up with a workable action plan, taking all stakeholders into confidence. The moment the signs of psychosomatic changes are discernable in the youth, it is just the right time for sociologists, theologists and other experts to intervene with a sense of purpose, care and compassion as coercion in such cases tends to be counter-productive. But yes, a clear no-nonsense message has to go right across, that national security comes first always and every time!

The writer is a former Director-General of Police, Uttar Pradesh. Views expressed are personal.

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