NIA takes over Mangaluru auto-rickshaw blast case
New Delhi, Dec 1: The National Investigation Agency has taken over the probe into the November 19 Mangaluru auto-rickshaw blast that injured two, including the prime suspect, officials said on Thursday.
In the incident, which took place under the Kankanadi police station area, the auto driver and alleged prime suspect Shariq were injured.
Police had called it an act of terrorism, invoking a stringent provision of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and held the passenger, Shariq, responsible for the incident.
The Karnataka government wrote to the Union home ministry for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the incident.
"As this is a scheduled offence under section 6 of the NIA Act, 2008, the matter is being submitted for further necessary action," the government wrote to the home ministry recommending the probe by the agency.
Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood had said the NIA and other central agencies are already working with the state police in cracking the case from day one even before getting a formal direction from the Centre.
For the "premature explosion" that led to Shariq's arrest, the IRC in a message, which went viral on social media, said such possibilities exist with "all military and subversive operations".
Reacting to the message, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar had said police are verifying the genuineness of the avowed organisation and veracity of the contents of the message.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
