Mangaluru blast probe points to Pakistan handler

The initial probe into the Mangaluru blast case points towards a Pakistan-based handler who used dark web and crypto-currency to recruit and finance local youths for carrying out multiple attacks on religious shrines across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, said officials.

The investigations into the Coimbatore and Mangaluru blast cases were handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which carried out searches at 40 locations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka on Wednesday and seize '4 lakh cash and digital records.

The Coimbatore blast occurred in October last year, involving a car laden with explosives in front of Kottai Eswaran Temple. The accused, Jamesha Mubeen, who was killed in the explosion, had earlier been questioned by central agencies in 2019 for his links to Zahran Hashim, the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday suicide blasts in Sri Lanka. It was later revealed that he had sworn allegiance to ISIS and was planning to carry out a suicide attack on October 23, 2022, and cause extensive damage to the temple complex.