Mangaluru cooker blast: Accused Mohammed Shariq gets 10 years in jail

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has sentenced terror accused Mohammed Shariq to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in the 2022 Mangaluru cooker blast case. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 92,000 on Shariq.

Shariq had initially claimed innocence in the case, but later pleaded guilty under Section 229 of CrPC in December 2025, which the special court accepted. During sentencing, Shariq's advocates argued that he was the sole earner of his family and had a daughter and requested that the quantum of punishment be reduced.

The court sentenced the accused to multiple terms of rigorous imprisonment under various provisions of the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Explosive Substances Act, including 10-year jail terms for serious offences such as waging war conspiracy, attempt to murder, and terror-related activities. He was also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on charges of forgery. All sentences will run concurrently.

The incident took place on November 19, 2022, near Kankanady in Mangaluru, while Shariq was allegedly en route to plant an explosive at Kadri Manjunath Temple. The bomb, however, went off midway, leading to injuries to him and auto driver Purushottam Poojary.

After undergoing treatment for nearly three months, Shariq was taken into NIA custody, following which the agency completed its investigation and filed a chargesheet in the case.

WHO IS MOHAMMED SHARIQ?

Shariq, who hails from Tirthahalli in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, was looking after his father’s readymade garments shop.

He first came under the radar of probe agencies in the Mangalore graffiti case. The case dates back to November 2020, when graffiti was spotted on a wall of the Mangaluru East police station limits.

Writings on the wall of a residential complex on the Beijai-Kadri Kambla Road warned that the Lashkars and Talibans would come to handle Sanghis and Manuvadis. “Gustakh-e-rasool ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda” was also found on the wall of the complex.

The Mangaluru police arrested Shariq, Maz Muneer, and Sadat Hussain under the UAPA in this case. Later, they were released on bail.

According to the NIA, Shariq was radicalised into the ideology of the Islamic State by his associate Arafath Ali, who is currently serving six years of rigorous imprisonment. Shariq, in turn, radicalised several Muslim men across Karnataka and trained them in bomb-making, the probe revealed.

REVISITING THE MANGALURU BLAST CASE

According to investigators, Shariq wanted to explode the bomb in a crowded area in Mangalore. On November 10, 2022, Shariq went around Mangalore and planned everything minutely. He found out where to place the bomb and what kind of impact it would have.

On November 19, the day of the blast, he took a bus from Mysore to reach Mangaluru. He hired Poojary’s auto-rickshaw and asked to be dropped near the Kadri Manjunath Temple. At around 4:20 pm, the bomb exploded in the auto, injuring both the auto driver and Shariq.

A day after the blast, a forensic team recovered materials used to make explosives from his residence in Mysuru. The investigators also recovered one mobile phone, two fake Aadhaar cards, a fake PAN card and a FINO debit card.

Six days later, on November 25, 2022, the Karnataka government handed over the case to the NIA and recommended the investigative agency to conduct the probe under the stringent UAPA.

The NIA arrested Shariq in July 2023 and filed a chargesheet against him in November 2023.

As per the NIA's investigation, Shariq, co-accused Syed Yasin, along with an online handler, had planned the explosion as part of a conspiracy to establish a Caliphate (Sharia Law).