Mangaluru blast verdict likely today, will act based on outcome: K'taka Home Minister

Bengaluru, April 27 Ahead of the verdict by the Special NIA court in the Mangaluru cooker bomb blast case, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Monday said he expects a fair judgment and that the government will take further action based on the outcome.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, the Minister said the court is expected to pronounce its verdict in the case today. “The police department has done everything required under the law. They have collected the necessary evidence and submitted it. I expect a just verdict. Let us wait and watch,” he said.

Responding to allegations made by the BJP regarding the case, Parameshwara said two aspects must be kept in mind. “One is the political narrative, where statements are made as part of public discourse. We have observed the opposition making such remarks,” he noted.

However, he stressed that the legal process remains paramount. “What is important is what needs to be done legally. The court will announce its verdict today, and we will decide on further action based on the outcome,” he added.

The Special NIA court for terrorism cases in Bengaluru has accepted a guilty plea filed by Mohammed Shariq, the main accused in the Mangaluru cooker bomb blast case. The blast occurred inside an autorickshaw in the coastal city on November 19, 2022.

The accused No. 1, Mohammed Shariq, is known as Shariq a.k.a. Mohammed Sharik Premraj Hutagi a.k.a. Premraj a.k.a. Gowli Arun Kumar.

Shariq, 27, who hails from Shivamogga, admitted to the charges nearly three years after the explosion inside an autorickshaw on November 19, 2022. He initially pleaded not guilty when the court framed charges on April 20, 2024, but reversed his stand in December 2025 by submitting a fresh plea under Section 229 (Conviction on plea of guilty) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Shariq suffered severe burns when the pressure cooker bomb he was allegedly transporting to be planted in Mangaluru detonated prematurely on his lap due to a faulty timer setting. The NIA arrested him soon after he was discharged from a Mangaluru hospital.

According to the NIA, Shariq is part of an Islamic State-inspired Shivamogga module connected to multiple terror-linked incidents since 2020. At the time of the blast, he was already wanted in a September 2022 Shivamogga case involving IED testing by the same module. He was arrested in 2020 for writing anti-national graffiti in Mangaluru.

The module is also accused of the March 1, 2024, Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru, where investigators believe an IED similar to the one allegedly carried by Shariq was planted by founding member Mussavir Hussain, along with the now-arrested Abdul Matheen Taha.

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