Fifth accused arrested in Bengaluru cafe blast case days after multi-state raids

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, May 24, 2024: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested the fifth accused in the March 1 Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe blast case. The accused, identified as 35-year-old Shoaib Ahmed Mirza alias Chhotu, is a resident of Hubbali and was previously convicted in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror conspiracy case.

 

"Three days after a massive crackdown across four states in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, the NIA on Friday arrested one more accused, identified as an ex-convict in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror conspiracy case," NIA said in an official statement.
The agency also said that Mirza got involved in this fresh conspiracy after being released from jail.

In 2018, he had befriended and introduced accused Abdul Matheen Taha to an online handler suspected to be abroad, it stated.

Mirza had further provided an e-mail ID for encrypted communication between the handler and Abdul Matheen Taha, who was arrested earlier on April 12 from his hideout in Kolkata along with co-accused Mussavir Hussain Shazib.

In a massive crackdown to catch the accused of the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, NIA has conducted extensive searches at as many as 29 locations across India.

The recent arrest came two days after NIA carried out multi-state raids in connection with the case. The probe agency, that took over the case on March 3, had on April 12 arrested two key accused, including the mastermind Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, in the matter.

Taahaa and the other accused, Mussavir Hussain Shazib, who had allegedly placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the cafe, were arrested from a lodge near Kolkata, where they were staying under assumed identities.

Further investigation is underway to probe the role of the handler and the larger conspiracy behind the blast, which left several injured and caused extensive damage to property.

Courtesy: India Today