Reports of Shariq's confession false: Mluru top cop says police yet to question accuse of auto-blast
Media reports had claimed Shariq confessed he was trying to target Kadri temple
Mangaluru: Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar on Sunday cleared the air regarding rumors around the confessional statement of Shariq who was arrested in connection with the auto-rickshaw blast case in the city earlier last week.
Speaking to media reporters on Sunday the city’s top cop added that the police had not questioned Shariq yet and reports of his confessional statements were false and baseless. He added that Shariq was yet to recover from him injuries that he sustained in the explosion and added that his department was waiting for him to recover to begin his questioning.
In the meanwhile, several media reports claimed that Shariq had confessed the famous Kadri temple and Sanghaniketana hall was his target. Media reports had also added that he had confessed this in the presence of an investigating officer.
“He is yet to recover. At the moment he is not in a position to give his statement. He has not given any statement and people should not pay attention to any reports doing rounds in this regard.” The top cop said.
“The health of the auto-rickshaw driver Purushottam Poojary is improving, but we are yet to see such improvement in Shariq’s health,” he added.
Speaking further, Shashi Kumar said, “Since this is a very serious criminal case, the accused is being treated under police supervision. Shariq has burn injuries too and there is a chance of the infection spreading. Nobody can approach him without the permission of the doctors treating him. The police are taking a lot of care and precautionary measures too, to prevent any lapse of security.”
The commissioner said that the family members of the accused had been given an opportunity to identify him, but no police officer, including senior officers, has spoken or approached Shariq so far. “Please do not go by hearsay in the matter,” the officer stressed.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
