Investigation into the antecedents of Mohammed Shariq, the prime suspect in Saturday’s Mangaluru auto rickshaw blast, has revealed that he received an online consignment via Amazon while staying at Aluva in Kerala in the second week of September this year.
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Sources in the intelligence agencies told The Hindu on Sunday that Mr. Shariq was staying with an associate in Aluva when he received the consignment. Investigators who analysed his call records found certain details that confirmed the order and delivery via the e-commerce portal. Efforts were on to access the content of the consignment, account details and the delivery address, the sources said.
After staying in a dormitory in Coimbatore, Mr. Shariq visited Madurai and Nagercoil before going to Aluva. Investigators suspect that he kept moving to various places to evade arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) since two of his associates, Maaz and Yasin, were arrested by the Mangaluru police in connection with the seizure of materials propagating the Islamic State’s (IS) ideology. Special teams of the Coimbatore police have rushed to Madurai and Nagercoil to check Mr. Shariq’s contacts there, the sources said.
The Mangaluru case originated from a stabbing incident reported in Dodabetta, where a native of Rajasthan was assaulted by one Shaifullah. It was this accused person who, during interrogation, revealed the names of Mr. Shariq and two others, saying that they were involved in a systematic indoctrination of the IS ideology, the sources said.
It came to light during further investigation that Mr. Shariq was a member of the “Base Movement” module, which ardently followed the IS ideology. Some youth in Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil had come to the notice of the police for their involvement with the movement in recent years. The activities of “Base Movement” activists had also come to the notice of police in Shivamogga, Hubbali and Mangaluru in Karnataka, the sources added.