Terrorist who blew himself up in Jeddah was an NRI, confirms Saudi Arabia

coastaldigest.com web desk
May 1, 2018

Newsroom, May 1: The bomber who blew himself up outside the US Consulate in Jeddah, a coastal city of Saudi Arabia two years ago was a non-resident Indian, confirmed the authorities of the Kingdom on the basis of DNA tests.

The accused who killed himself in bid to cause harm to others has been identified as Fayaz Kagzi, an Indian national and alleged operative of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a senior security official said.

The Jeddah blast on July 4, 2016, which injured two security officers, was the first of three attacks to hit the kingdom that day. The other two were also in the form of blasts near a Shia mosque in Qatif and outside the Masjid-i-Nabvi in Medina.

The National Investigation Agency informed the Patiala house court in Delhi that the terror mastermind was dead. Sources said that NIA believes Kagzi, who hails from Beed in Maharashtra, was the 'mastermind', 'financier' of the 2010 German bakery blast and 2012 JM Road bombing. The 34-year-old was also wanted in the Aurangabad arms haul case and is suspected of teaching Hindi to 26/11 terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab.

Saudi authorities had first released the picture of the Jeddah bomber and called him Abdullah Qalzar Khan, a Pakistani national. Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officers identified the man in the picture as Fayaz Kagzi and subsequently, with the help of NIA, shared their suspicion with Jeddah.

Kagzi fled to Pakistan via Bangladesh in 2006 and shifted his base to Saudi Arabia in 2009 to oversee the recruitment of Indian nationals to LeT. Sources say that it is possible that he took on a new name of Abdullah Qalzar Khan while in Pakistan.

Abu Jundal, a convict in the Aurangabad arms haul case, had told investigators that he met Kagzi in Saudi Arabia. Jundal was extradited to India in 2012 and is currently facing trial in conspiracy against India cases.

Agencies believe after Jundal's extradition, Kagzi switched alliance to ISIS and became part of the Jeddah suicide bombing conspiracy.

India and Saudi Arabia have in recent times cooperated in terrorism-related cases. India could arrest Lashkar's Abdul Karim Tunda only after Saudi authorities cooperated.

Saudi Arabian ambassador to India, Dr Saud bin Mohammed Al Sati, had said last week that the kingdom has a very strong cooperation with India on countering terrorism, extremism and terror financing.

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Roshan Deen
 - 
Wednesday, 2 May 2018

Suicide bomber who blew himself up near the United States consulate in Jeddah early Monday has been identified as a Pakistani citizen, the Saudi interior ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry identified the man as 35-year-old Abdullah Gulzar Khan, who worked as a driver in the kingdom.
Khan had been living with his wife and her parents in Jeddah for 12 years, the interior ministry said in a tweet. July 05, 2016
https://www.dawn.com/news/1269220

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News Network
March 27,2020

Mysuru, Mar 27: A 35-year old man from Mysuru, Karnataka was tested positive for coronavirus infection on Thursday, taking the state-wide count to 52 altogether.

This new case could be an indication that Covid-19 has entered into the third stage of community transmission in Karnataka, as the infected person neither has any travel history nor have been in contact with Covid-affected persons.

The patient works in the quality assurance section of a pharmaceutical company in Nanjangud in Mysuru district, and has been in continuous contact with medical care professionals.

Mysuru DC Mr Abhiram G Shankar informs that detailed investigation is under process.

He is currently undergoing treatment at an isolation ward in a designated hospital in Mysuru. So far his seven primary contacts have been traced and they are under home quarantine, Mr Abhiram Shankar said.

A 35 year old Mysurean, and another 46 year old Keralite, both who had come from Dubai, were the first and second cases tested positive for Covid-19 in Mysuru. They are also currently kept under isolation.

Mysuru district administration has identified 898 international passengers in Mysuru district including 152 in the taluks. Among them, while 149 persons have completed home quarantine period by now, the rest are still in isolation.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 10: The Karnataka government on Wednesday said coronavirus tests conducted in the state has crossed the four lakh mark, while the recovery rate remained at 44 per cent.

Sharing the daily COVID-19 bulletin on his Twitter handle, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said till Tuesday 4,00,257 samples were tested in 71 COVID-19 testing labs across the state.

"Karnataka crossed 4 lakh tests mark on Tuesday. So far, we tested 4,00,257 samples in 71 #COVID19 testing labs across the state with a positivity rate of 1.4 per cent," he said.

He tweeted that the state's recovery rate remained healthy at 44 per cent with 2,605 discharges and 5,921 cumulative cases.

The minister said Karnataka was home to nearly a tenth of the total testing labs in India.

According to the Karnataka Health department, out of the four lakh odd samples tested, 3,87,027 samples were reported negative.

The total active cases in the state as on Tuesday evening were 3,248 whereas 66 people lost their lives to coronavirus so far.

Major contributors to the spike in COVID-19 cases in Karnataka are those who returned from Maharashtra recently.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 20,2020

Mysuru, Jul 20: Police and the Bengaluru City Quarantine Squad apprehended quarantine breacher “Drone Boy” Prathap N M in Mysuru on Monday afternoon.

Police sources said that the 23-year-old youth agreed to surrender following negotiations with officers. 

“He agreed to turn himself in after realizing that he had no other alternative,” said an officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

A team of officers from the Quarantine Squad under Dr Prayag H S and police from the Talaghattapura Police Station under Inspector Ramappa Guttedar said they apprehended Prathap who was staying at a hotel in the Mandi Mohalla area at around 3 pm.

Prathap’s father accompanied the team to convince his son to surrender. Police said Prathap will be returned to the city to be placed into 14 days of institutional quarantine. 

With two cell phones at his disposal Prathap, who is accused of twice breaching home quarantine regulations, fled the city on Saturday. 

Police, who were initially aware of only one cell phone, lost track of the youth as he drove out of the city, turning his phone off near Kengeri.

However, after quizzing the fugitive’s family, police learned that Prathap had a second phone and sim card. “His whereabouts were established on Sunday evening by tracking this second phone,” an official source said.

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