Mangaluru cooker bomb was rudimentary, likely rigged with matchsticks and cracker powder: Police

Mohammed Shariq was self-radicalised, influenced by IS, and probably rigged the bomb guided by YouTube videos, say officers

The cooker bomb that went off accidentally in an autorickshaw in Mangaluru on November 19 was “very rudimentary, rigged from materials available at home seeing YouTube videos”. Matchsticks and firecrackers are suspected to have been the main source of the explosive material for the bomb, according to the preliminary forensic analysis.

The analysis has indicated the presence of potassium chlorate (usually present in a matchstick) and cracker powder, a senior police officer in the know said.

The police have recovered 150 matchboxes, sulphur powder, and gunpowder from the house the alleged bomber Mohammed Shariq stayed in, in Mysuru. There was a time delay mechanism of a washing machine commonly available in the market, used in the bomb.

“The bomb was so rudimentary and amateur that when it went off, the fire first probably emerged from the nozzle of the cooker. Not even the lid was blown off,” said a senior officer.

Though Shariq was radicalised and highly influenced by Islamic State (IS), he is unlikely to have had any direct contact with anyone in the global terror organisation, sources said. “He was probably a lone wolf, especially after he went on the run in September 2022, after two of his associates were arrested. He is known to be associated with Abdul Matheen Taha, an accused in the self-styled IS-inspired Al-Hind terror module case. Taha has better expertise in bombmaking, which is also not visible in the bomb rigged in the cooker,” a senior official said.

There seems to be a local group of radicalised youth influenced by IS — Taha, Arafat Ali, Shariq, Maaz Muneer Ahmed, and Syed Yasin — in Tirthahalli that has emerged. Of them, only Taha is allegedly a member of Al-Hind, which allegedly aimed to establish an IS province in the jungles of South India. The rest do not have any direct contact even with the Al-Hind module, said the police. 

“These youths are mostly self-radicalised via the Internet. There are many closed groups on Telegram and several other encrypted messaging platforms where those associated with Islamic State or even those across the border with an IS front push propaganda material and do-it-yourself (DIY) videos of bombs and explosives. Videos on how to make a bike bomb and cooker bomb have been recovered from Shariq’s phone. The handlers of the groups do not give explosives, logistics or funds. Radicalised youths end up carrying out amateur acts like the one in Mangaluru,” a senior intelligence officer said.