K'tka Cong chief calls cooker blast BJP's cooked up story to fool people

Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress Chief D K Shivakumar called the pressure cooker blast in an autorickshaw in the city of Mangaluru a cooked-up story of terrorism by the BJP with a divisive attempt to divert people's attention from the voter data theft scam.

The low-intensity, blast that occurred on November 19 in which a 23-year-old terror suspect was injured, has got the tag of terrorism from the state police without a proper investigation, Shivakumar alleged.

The accused, Mohammed Shariq, is alleged to have been connected to two separate terror-related cases. He embraced about 40 per cent injury after the improvised explosive device (IED) which was inside a pressure cooker he was carrying was accidentally blasted.

The incident occurred two days after the Congress party cried out foul play in collecting personal data of voters by a private firm Chilume Trust that was awarded a voter awareness programme contract by the civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The blast was termed an act of terrorism by the Karnataka Director General of Police chief Praveen Sood without a proper investigation, leaving many unanswered questions pertaining to the intention of the accused.

"Is it an act of terror like in Mumbai, Delhi, or Kashmir? By showing the blast in a big light the BJP wants to win votes. The BJP has no big achievements to show to voters," the Karnataka Congress chief told reporters at the Press Club of Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, the BJP lashed out at the Congress leader and said his remarks were evidence of the anti-national position taken by the Congress party to win minority votes in the 2023 Karnataka assembly polls.