The main accused in the Mangaluru cooker bomb blast case in November 2022 has sought to plead guilty in the case where he is facing a trial on charges of terrorism, sources said.
Mohammed Shariq, 26, who is a member of an Islamic State (IS) module that emerged from the Shivamogga region of Karnataka, which is linked to multiple terror-linked incidents in the state, has moved an application to the special court for terrorism cases under Section 229 of the Criminal Procedure Code this week for pleading guilty in the Mangaluru cooker blast case that occured in an autorickshaw.
Shariq and the autorickshaw driver were injured after a low-intensity bomb allegedly intended for a terror act near the Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy Temple in Mangaluru exploded prematurely in the autorickshaw on November 19, 2022, owing to an error — the timer was mistakenly set for nine seconds instead of 90 minutes in the blast. He was arrested for the accidental blast after being discharged from the hospital.
“At this stage, learned counsel for accused No.1 submits that he has already filed an application u/S.229 of Cr.P.C. In view of the same, the Superintendent, Central Prison, Bengaluru, is directed to produce accused No.1 physically before the court on 22.12.2025 to enquire accused No.1 on the said application in the open court,” the special court said on December 8.
Shariq had previously, in April 2024, pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges of terrorism, criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, forgery, and charges under the Explosive Substances Act and had sought a trial.
Several people who are accused in terrorism cases in Karnataka have sought to plead guilty to their crimes in recent times to serve a shorter sentence in prison rather than face a prolonged trial and a prison sentence.
On November 21, two associates of Shariq — Mohammed Zabiullah, 34, and Nadeem Faizal, 29 — were sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty in the Shivamogga terror module case. The two were arrested in 2022, and the sentencing after they pleaded guilty meant a prison term of three years instead of a prolonged trial.
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Shariq was wanted in 2022 Shivamogga terror case
At the time of the incident, Shariq was wanted in a 2022 Shivamogga terror case for alleged links to an IS module that had tested IEDs. He was arrested in 2020 for painting anti-national graffiti on a wall in Mangaluru.
Members of the Shivamogga module are also accused in the 2024 Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru, where an IED similar to the one used by Shariq in Mangaluru on November 19, 2022, was planted by Mussavir Hussain, a founding member of the Shivamogga module, along with the now-arrested Abdul Matheen Taha.
The Shivamogga module is suspected to have received over Rs 3 lakh in cryptocurrency from handlers between 2020 and 2022. The accused Shariq, who was training others to make IEDs, sent money to Syed Yasin — a co-accused in the Mangaluru blast case — through cryptocurrency to make a bomb that was tested in Shivamogga in August-September 2022.
Shariq, a BCom degreeholder, was in jail for eight months in 2021 for writing provocative graffiti on a police station wall in Mangaluru.
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The two from the Shivamogga module – Zabiullah and Nadeem Faizal – who were convicted last month – were allegedly paid by Shariq for participation in a terror conspiracy by conducting recces for targets of attack – on the directions of a handler based abroad who identified himself in online chats only as the “Colonel” – who has been identified by agencies as a missing 2012 Bengaluru terror case suspect – Mohammed Shahid Faizal.