Bengaluru: Islamic Resistance Council (IRC), an unknown Islamic outfit, on Thursday claimed responsibility for the November 19 Mangaluru auto blast and warned of another attack in future. They are saying that one of its 'Mujahid brother Mohammed Shariq' attempted to attack a 'Hindutva Temple in Kadri.' The investigating agencies have taken this development seriously and further intensified operations to get to the roots of the terror network.
In a statement, the IRS described the arrested terror suspect as their brother and said that the target was a temple in Kadri in Mangaluru city."Mangaluru has become a fortress of saffron terrorists. Though our attempts this time have failed, we will get ready to carry out another attack by giving a slip to state and central investigating agencies," the statement read.
"Our brother's attempt to attack Kadri Hindu temple has failed. This attack was not successful. The state and central agencies are trying to arrest our brothers. They are chasing them. However, we have been successful in getting out of the clutches of agencies. In future, another attack will be made." The agencies, which suspected the case of cooker blast case to be part of global terror conspiracy, are now verifying the claim by the Islamic outfit.
The Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar said the police are verifying the genuineness of the organisation.
"We the Islamic Resistance Council (IRC) would like to convey the message: One of our Mujahid brother Mohammed Shariq attempted to attack the Hindutva Temple in Kadri (in Dakshina Kannada district), a bastion of the Saffron terrorists in Mangaluru," the message which has gone viral in social media said.
It further said, "Although this operation didn't meet its objectives, we still consider it a success from a tradecraft and tactics point of view as the brother in spite of being wanted and being pursued by the state and central intelligence agencies, was not only able to successfully evade them but even prepared and mounted an attack."
For the 'premature explosion' which led to Shariq's arrest, the outfit said such possibilities exist with 'all military and subversive operations.' The outfit even warned the ADGP Alok Kumar. "As for those rejoicing at the arrest of the brother, especially the likes of ADGP Alok Kumar, we say 'Your joy will be short-lived and you shall reap the fruits of your oppression soon. We have you in our sights and it is just a matter of what and not if we will get to you."
Regarding the attack, the IRC said they are forced into this war and the path of resistance by the fascists and "We are only responding to the worst forms of state terrorism." "We are only retaliating because an open war has been declared upon us, because mob lynching has become a norm, because oppressive laws and legislations are passed to suppress us and interfere in our religion, because our innocents are languishing in prisons, because public spaces today reverberate with call of our genocide," the outfit said.
Reacting to the viral post, Alok Kumar said, "We are verifying the genuineness of the avowed organisation and veracity of the contents of the post." On November 19, Mohammed Shariq, who was at large, was travelling in an autorickshaw with a cooker which exploded in Mangaluru injuring him and the driver. Police called the blast an act of terror.
Notably, the blast occurred on November 19 in an auto. The cooker bomb was designed to carry out a large-scale attack to fuel communal tension in the coastal region and in the state. The probe revealed that the attacker initially targeted Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's programme and later wanted to blast it at a children's fest organised by one of the institutions affiliated with the RSS. Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has announced that the case would soon be handed over to the NIA. (with Agency inputs)
