The Mangaluru police on Thursday said that the accused in the Mangaluru graffiti case had links with terrorists from Saudi Arabia and added that they were in constant touch with these people as they put up graffitis in support of Islamic terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban in the city, reports Public TV.
Speaking to the media, Mangaluru police commissioner Vikas Kumar said that the accused was a part of a larger nexus, controlled by terrorists in Saudi Arabia. He added that the investigation so far has found that the religious bigotry and fanaticism had inspired the accused to indulge in this act.
Further, the police are now investigating the terrorist connection of those people in Saudi Arabia and have also issued a lookout notice in the connection with the same.
The main accused in the case – Mohammed Shaarik and Maz Munir Ahmed were in touch with a number of radical Islamic organizations through social media platforms. The two accused were part of a WhatsApp group that discussed plans to commit such crimes. Most of the other members of the WhatsApp groups are from India and the police are finding the details of the other group members.
Accused read religious literature, inspired them to commit such acts
The investigation has further revealed that the accused joined these WhatsApp groups to collect information. One of the relatives of the Mohammed Shaarik – Saadat has reportedly disclosed important information to the investigating team in connection with the case.
Reportedly, the accused had also cultivated the habit of reading Islamic literature, which inspired them to commit such acts. The police had recovered several books that incited them to commit such crimes from their residence. The investigation also revealed that the sleeper cell of a radical Islamic organization had hand in putting up such hate-filled graffitis in the city.
Meanwhile, the third accused in the case – Saadat was remanded to judicial custody on Tuesday, December 15. It is reported that Shaarik used to allegedly finance these radical Islamic activities and his accomplices used to refer to him as ‘terrorist’.
The other two accused – Mohammed Shaarik and Maz Munir Ahmed will be produced in the court on Friday as their police custody period ends on that day.
Graffiti hailing Islamic terror, threatening non-Muslims spotted in Mangaluru
In a horrific incident last month, two graffiti – one hailing radical Islamist terror outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban and another threatening non-Muslims, were spotted at circuit road in Mangaluru, Karnataka.
On November 26, on the anniversary of the ghastly terror attacks in 2008, the first graffiti threatening to bring Lashkar-e-Toiba and Taliban’s help to eliminate ‘Sanghis’ and ‘Manuvadis’ was spotted by the locals. Two days later, another disturbing graffiti was spotted in the city. The inscription was found outside an old police outpost in the court premises in Mangaluru, Karnataka.
A week later, the Mangaluru police had arrested three persons in connection with the case. Mangaluru police commissioner Vikash Kumar said that the accused committed such a crime to gain publicity.