On Monday, November 21, a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) visited Mysuru to look into information regarding Mohammad Shariq who is the main accused in the Mangaluru auto blast case. The team headed to Shariq's residence in Lokanayaknagar off the Outer Ring Road in Metagalli while being escorted by local police. Similar search activities were carried out by the police at Shivamogga and Mangaluru.
Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar on November 21 had said that the investigation was proceeding outside the state and that they were in contact with central security agencies. At Shariq's home in Lokanayaknagar, a forensic team gathered samples and evidence. Additionally, the police recovered circuits and chemicals required in building bombs. A toy AK-47 gun and an Aadhaar card were also discovered.
Mysuru police initiated a drive to identify everyone who recently rented houses for a brief period of time on the outskirts of the city after learning that the suspect had done so by presenting a fake identity card and address proof. Hotel guests and lodge guests are also being monitored.
The NIA is currently looking into a number of cases that may be connected to Shariq in the investigation. He is also a suspect in a stabbing case that the Shivamogga Rural police first reported in September 2022, whose investigation was recently taken over by the NIA. Since September, the NIA and the Karnataka police had been searching for him. The Shivamogga police had busted a local terror cell and detained Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Syed Yasin, while looking into a stabbing incident involving a V D Savarkar poster.
Shariq, hailing from Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district, was travelling in an auto rickshaw with a pressure cooker fitted with a detonator, wires, and batteries when it exploded on the outskirts of Mangaluru on November 19. He is currently being treated in a city hospital after suffering burn injuries.
The explosion was "an act of terror" that caused significant damage, according to Karnataka police. "Matchboxes, phosphorus, sulphur, batteries, circuit boards, and nuts and bolts from the house were discovered. The home's owner, Mohan Kumar, was unaware of these actions," the ADGP said. Four youths have been apprehended so far as part of the investigation – two from Mysuru, one from Mangaluru, and one from Ooty.