Mangaluru, Nov 20: The explosion in a moving auto rickshaw in Mangaluru was an 'act of terror,' Karnataka Director General of Police, Praveen Sood said on Sunday.
In a tweet, the DGP said, "It's confirmed now. The blast is not accidental but an ACT OF TERROR with intention to cause serious damage. Karnataka State Police is probing deep into it along with central agencies."
The blast occurred on Saturday evening inside an autorickshaw, near a police station, leaving the passenger and the driver injured. Both have been admitted to the hospital.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra too said that central investigation teams are assisting the police in the case.
"The person injured in the blast is not in a position to speak yet. The police team is collecting all the information. Early indications into the probe suggest terrorist activity. We have informed the central security agencies, and they have sent a team to Mangaluru. We are expecting concrete information in the next one or two days," he said.
The police have recovered a "burnt pressure cooker with batteries" inside the autorickshaw, sources said.
Speaking to media, Mr Sood said that the main suspect is the passenger in the auto. "The passenger was carrying an Aadhar card which was later found to be of a man from Hubbali. The photo on the Aadhar card looked like his, but it's not his. This gives us a fair idea that he was planning to target something, but we are not sure about his target. We are not ruling out his connection to the recent Coimbatore blast. He is from Karnataka and had travelled outside the state in the last few months. He had recently travelled to Coimbatore and parts of Tamil Nadu. It was a low-intensity bomb. He was headed somewhere. Not sure what was his modus operandi".
CCTV visuals from the location, shared by the police, showed the autorickshaw catching fire following what appeared to be a minor explosion.
"The driver alleged he spotted the fire. They (driver and passenger) are undergoing treatment and are unable to speak now. We request the public not to spread rumours. They should remain calm and not panic. We will update once we speak to them," city Police Commissioner N Sasikumar had said.
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