Shivamogga(Karnataka), Sep 23 (Bureau) In an explosive revelation, Shimoga Superintendent of Police BM Laxmi Prasad on Friday said the persons who were arrested on charges of having links with ISIS had executed a trial blast on the banks of Tunga river here. “The accused executed a low-intensity blast with a radius of 3 ft on an experimental basis. They wanted several such trial blasts before executing a bigger plan. They wanted to attack non-believers (kafirs) through jihad. We apprehended them before they could do the damage,” Prasad told reporters at a press conference here. The police found the trial blast site and recovered from there the residue of the bomb with the help of FSL team, he said. “We found sulphur and phosphorus, which worked as detonators. The police are doing a chemical analysis of the material,” he added.The police had arrested Syed Yasin of Shivamogga and Maz Muneer Ahmed of Mangaluru on September 19 on the charge of having links with ISIS. They are in police custody.
Another accused, Shariq is absconding, but a car belonging to him has been seized.Yasin, who is an electrical engineer, had purchased a gadget through an online store, and obtained a battery, wire and other material locally. The accused have learnt bomb-making by watching videos shared by ISIS on their one-way communication channel Al-Hayat run on Telegram, a chat application. “They were members of this one-way communication channel. So far, there is no information on a direct link with ISIS,” Prasad said. The accused profess the ideology of Islamic State and believe in getting real independence by establishing Caliphate and enforcing Sharia law, the SP said. “They hold the view that India got its independence from the British, but real independence will be achieved only after setting up the rule of Caliph and enforcing Sharia law,” Prasad said.
The SP further said Yasin and Muneer, who are known to each other since pre-university days, were radicalised and introduced to ISIS by Shariq who is absconding. The latter is accused in the objectionable graffiti case reported in Mangaluru in 2020. The police came to know about Shariq’s role soon after Shivamogga clashes that occurred on August 15, Prasad said, adding that Zabiulla, who was accused in the stabbing case, was also radicalized by Shariq.The police is also probing into the financial transactions between Yasin, Muneer and Shariq, via crypto currency, Prasad said. The investigation team has seized 14 mobile phones, one dongle, two laptops, one pen drive and a few other electronic gadgets, he said. Prasad said the accused had also torched the national flag at the place where they had carried out the trial blast. “The accused had burnt the tricolour and recorded the act visually. We have found the video clip,” he said.