NIA arrests key conspirator of IED blast at Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe

NIA stated that Muzammil Shareef was picked up and placed in custody as a co-conspirator after NIA teams cracked down at 18 locations, including 12 in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and one in Uttar Pradesh.

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday announced that they arrested a key conspirator in the IED blast at the Rameshwaram cafe in Bengaluru’s Brookfield on March 1.

A well-placed source in the NIA told DH that accused Muzammil Shareef, a resident of Kalasa Taluk in Chikkamagaluru, was picked by the officers in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The arrest came after massive simultaneous raids conducted by the apex agency at 18 locations, including 12 places in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and one in Uttar Pradesh.

For the first time, the NIA officially said that they have identified Mussavir Shazeeb Hussain, a resident of Thirthahalli, as the prime suspect who carried out the blast. The agency also said that Abdul Matheen Taha, another absconding terror suspect, has been suspected to have played a role of “co-conspirator” in the blast.

Shareef has been taken into custody for allegedly extending logistic support to Shazeeb and Matheen to trigger the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast at the Rameshwaram cafe. The blast had caused injuries to at least 10 people, according to a police report.

The agency in its statement said that on Thursday too, they conducted raids on properties belonging to all the three suspects in the case and seized electronic devices along with some cash. Efforts were on to nab Shazeeb and Matheen, and unearth the larger conspiracy behind the blast.

Investigation trail

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru city police first launched the investigation and subsequently transferred it to the NIA. Investigators trailing the suspect learnt that he went to Tumakuru by bus from Bengaluru after the blast and later that night he was spotted at the Ballari bus stand. The investigators initially suspected that the blast was part of “ISIS-inspired Ballari module” and had questioned a few jailed terror suspects from Ballari, lodged in Bengaluru’s central prison.

The investigators then veered towards the “Shivamogga Islamic State (IS)” module. The agency, for the first time, took Maaz Muneer Ahmed, a jailed inmate in Shivamogga IS module, into seven days’ custody. Wednesday's raids were done after questioning Ahmed.

The NIA also conducted raids in Chennai last week after learning the suspects had stayed there before the blast occurred in Bengaluru on March 1. The co-conspirator, Matheen, was allegedly seen buying a cap worn by Shazeeb on the day of the blast and later recovered by the investigators. The apex agency had questioned as many as seven jailed terror suspects in connection with the case.

Who are the two suspects?

Shazeeb and Matheen are absconding suspects in the Shivamogga IS module case. As per the NIA, Shazeeb hails from Masjid Road in Thirthahalli, Shivamogga district, and Matheen from Fish Market Road, Soppu Gude, Thirthahalli rural.

The NIA had named both as suspects in a recently filed chargesheet in Shivamogga IS conspiracy case, related to writing of graffiti in Mangaluru in support of proscribed terror outfits including IS, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Taliban.

In a release NIA had said it was on instructions from Taha and Shazeeb that one of the jailed terror suspects in the Shivamogga IS case, Arafat Ali, had indoctrinated Shariq, Ahmed and others to write graffiti in support of terror and terror outfits at two places in Mangaluru.