Spotted Shariq at a religious place, says Kovai Call taxi driver

COIMBATORE: A call taxi driver from Coimbatore on Thursday, claimed that he saw the Mangaluru auto bomb blast accused Mohammed Shariq, at a Hindu religious institution on the outskirts of the city. However, police said that Shariq’s mobile location do not match.

M Rajini Anandan, a call taxi driver from Chettipalayam and Rajini fan club functionary, said to the media that he spotted Mohammed Shariq taking photos at a religious institution on the day of Deepavali (24 October). He had gone on hire.

“After parking the car, I went to the canteen at the institution premises in the morning. I found a youth with a skull cap taking selfies and photographs along with two others. I then wondered if even those from other religions were visiting the place. It was after the photographs of the Mangaluru blast accused were published in newspapers and aired on television, I recognized him,” he said.

However, police said that the person, seen by the call taxi driver may not be Shariq as his mobile location revealed that he was in Karnataka on that day. Therefore, further inquiries are on.

Meanwhile, the Mangaluru police have again taken into custody Surendran from the Nilgiris to inquire in connection with the blast. He was accused of helping Shariq to buy a SIM card for his mobile phone. Police are still probing to know if there are any links between the Coimbatore car blast incident and the Mangaluru blast case.