ED attaches cash in the account of prime accused in 2022 Mangaluru blast case

Continuing its probe into the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast in 2022, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) provisionally attached one movable property in the form of a bank balance, to the extent of ₹29,176, of the prime accused, Syed Yasin, under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), on Tuesday. 

According to the official release, the ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered based on a complaint by K. Purushottama, an autorickshaw driver, regarding the explosion on November 19, 2022.

The NIA has been probing the case, where the chargesheet claimed that the blast was carried out by terror operatives with allegiance to ISIS.

“Investigation revealed that the ISIS online handler named “Colonel” had given training over Wicker app/Telegram to the main accused Mohammad Shariq alias Premraj and other accused persons, to make improvised explosive devices (IED) and also organised funds through certain mule accounts and also through cryptocurrencies which were at times encashed by Syed Yasin and Mohammad Shariq, through their contacts, for a commission and at some instances the encashed cryptocurrencies were routed through fraudulently opened mule accounts in FINO Payments Bank,” ED said.

“In the above manner, amount of ₹2,86,008 was deposited by different cryptocurrency dealers in the mule accounts and ₹41,680 was collected in cash from agents. The said amount was utilised for buying items online to assemble the IED and for hiring hideouts in Mysuru city and other places and also for conducting recce at various places in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka and specifically the above said bomb was supposed to be planted at Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy temple,” ED claimed.

It had exploded in the autorickshaw as the bomb timer was set as 09 seconds instead of 90 minutes. Another accused Maaz Munir was the person who provided the details of the above FINO payments bank mule accounts to Mohammad Shariq to receive the various payments sent by the online handler “Colonel”, ED said. 

“The amounts had been spent for the said purposes and the amount of ₹39,228 seized from the bag of Mohammed Shariq at the Father Muller Hospital by the Karnataka police which was eventually seized by the NIA. Hence, the present amount available in the bank account of Syed Yasin has been attached,” the ED said.