NIA files charge sheet in Mangaluru pressure cooker IED blast case
New Delhi, Nov 29: The NIA on Wednesday filed a charge sheet against two arrested accused in the alleged Islamic State-sponsored pressure cooker blast in Karnataka's Mangaluru last year, an official said.
The charge sheet was filed against Mohamed Shariq and Syed Shariq in a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act, a spokesperson for the federal agency said.
Mohamed Shariq, who was carrying the pressure cooker IED (improvised explosive device) in an autorickshaw, had allegedly planned to plant it at Mangaluru's Kadri Manjunatha Temple with the aim to create terror among the Hindu community. The low intensity bomb, however, accidentally exploded on the way on November 19, 2022, the spokesperson said.
The official said a case was registered on November 23, 2022, and Mohamed Shariq and co-accused Syed Shariq were arrested by the NIA in July.
According to the investigations, the two along -- with an online handler -- had planned the explosion as part of a conspiracy to establish a Caliphate (Sharia law), the spokesperson said.
As part of the conspiracy, Mohamed Shariq prepared the pressure cooker IED and Syed Yasin -- another accused -- provided material support, the official added.
The official said Mohamed Shariq first came on the radar of security forces in November 2020 when he was arrested by the Karnataka Police for painting a pro-terror graffiti in Mangaluru City.
He and his associates had put up the graffiti in support of the global terror outfit, the Islamic State, the spokesperson said.
Subsequently, Mohamed Shariq was also named in the Shivamogga Islamic State conspiracy case of 2022, in which 10 accused have been arrested so far.
Of the 10 arrested, nine -- including Mohamed Shariq and Syed Yasin -- were chargesheeted on June 30 for radicalising and recruiting gullible Muslim youths, raising funds and conducting trial blasts to further the anti-India activities of the Islamic State, the spokesperson said.
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Kharge urges PM Modi to conduct last rites of Manmohan Singh at a place where memorial can be built
New Delhi, Dec 27: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to conduct the last rites of former PM Manmohan Singh at a place where a memorial can be built.
He wrote the letter after speaking to Modi about setting up a memorial for Singh, who was a two-term prime minister revered by the people of the country.
"Apropos our telephonic conversation today morning, wherein I made a request to hold Dr Manmohan Singh's last rites, which will take place tomorrow i.e. 28th December 2024, at his final resting place that would be a sacrosanct venue for memorial of the great son of India.
"This is in keeping with such tradition of having memorials of statesmen and former Prime Ministers at the very place of their funerals," Kharge said in his two-page letter.
The Congress chief said Dr Manmohan Singh holds a highly revered place in the psyche of the country and the people of this nation, and his contributions and achievements were phenomenal.
He also said that Dr Singh's erudition on economic and fiscal matters came from his vast experience as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, chief economic advisor to the government of India and in various other capacities in several organisations, and the respect and regard that world leaders had for him bears testimony to this fact.
Kharge said Singh's wise counsel, leadership and contribution in mitigating the global economic financial crisis is well-acknowledged. He also recalled President Obama's words when as the US president, he mentioned that "whenever the Indian prime minister speaks, the whole world listens to him".
He also said that when the nation was in the throes of a grave economic crisis, it was Dr Manmohan Singh, along with former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, who took India out of the crisis and also led the country towards economic prosperity and stability.
The nation today reaps the benefits of the robust economic foundations built by them, Kharge noted.
"Coming from a humble background and having experienced the pains and sufferings of the Partition, it is through his sheer grit and determination that he rose to become one of the leading statesmen of the world. I hope and trust that befitting stature of Dr Manmohan Singh, request to have the funeral of Dr Singh at a place where his memorial can be built, will be acceded," Kharge said in his letter to Modi.
