The family of the accused in the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast on Monday arrived at the hospital to he has been admitted.
The accused, identified by the police as Sharik, has been admitted to the Father Muller Hospital in Karnataka's Mangaluru after he sustained 40-45 per cent burn injuries due to a fire that broke out in an autorickshaw in the Kankanadi police station area at around 5 pm on Saturday.
The auto driver and the passenger sustained burn injuries and have been admitted to the hospital, the Commissioner of Police (CP) of Mangaluru City N Shashi Kumar said on November 19.
Act of terror
Meanwhile, the explosion in a moving autorickshaw in Mangaluru was an 'act of terror,' Karnataka Director General of Police, Praveen Sood said on Sunday.
According to PTI sources, a cooker fitted with a detonator, wires and batteries were used to trigger the blast.
After the explosion, the interiors of the autorickshaw were badly damaged.
They also suspected that it could be a failed suicide bombing attempt to cause maximum damage.
The blast in Mangaluru bears resemblance to the car explosion in Coimbatore, they said.
City police commissioner N Shashi Kumar has appealed to the people not to panic and avoid spreading rumours on the social media.
Karnataka CM says suspect had terror links
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said the suspect who allegedly carried out a bomb explosion in Mangaluru had terror links as he had travelled to various places, including Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
According to the preliminary information, it was an LED-linked instrument, the Chief Minister told reporters.
"When the antecedents of the suspect was carried out, it becomes very apparent that the name mentioned in the Aadhaar card found from the spot was different from the person who was carrying it. The suspect had a duplicate Aadhaar card. It had a Hubballi address," Bommai said.
The Chief Minister said more details emerged when the police tracked the original address of the suspect and the locations where he had stayed.
"Prima facie, this is a terror act. The places he had travelled to such as Coimbatore or any other places clearly point to his terror link," Bommai said.
He added that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials have also joined the state police in investigating the matter. A four-member team of the NIA has arrived at the spot and are coordinating with the police.
