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Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast: 2 'terrorists' arrested, sent to 3-day NIA transit remand | Top updates
Rameshwaram Cafe blast case: A metropolitan court in Kolkata sent Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa to a three-day NIA transit remand.
The National Investigation Agency or NIA on Friday, April 12, was given a three-day transit remand of the two prime suspects, including the mastermind, by a metropolitan court in Kolkata in the Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe IED blast case. The two accused, Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, were traced and arrested by an NIA team near Kolkata on Friday morning.
“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the two absconding terrorists, including the mastermind, in the Bengaluru café blast case after tracking them to their hideout near Kolkata in West Bengal, bringing to an end a month-long manhunt for the duo,” the NIA said in a statement.
Medical tests of the two Bengaluru cafe blast case accused were conducted at a state-run hospital before they were produced before the metropolitan court on Friday. They were taken to Bankshall court for transit remand, an NIA lawyer said.
The two accused, Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, were taken to Bidhannagar state general hospital for a medical checkup, an official told news agency PTI.
Purba Medinipur SP Soumyadip Bhattacharya said the duo was arrested in a joint operation by the NIA and West Bengal Police.
Mussavir Hussain Shazib was the one who placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the cafe and Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa was the mastermind, the NIA said in a statement.
An IED explosion rocked the Rameshwaram cafe located on ITPL Road, Brookefield, Bengaluru, on March 1. Several customers and hotel staff members were injured, some of them grievously, in the blast that caused extensive damage to the property.
The NIA took over the probe on March 3 and had announced a reward of ₹10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of each of the two accused.
NIA arrest in Bengaluru cafe blast case: 10 updates
- The NIA arrested Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa and Mussavir Hussain Shazib near Kolkata in West Bengal, a development that triggered a war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.
- Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa and Mussavir Hussain Shazib were traced to their hideout near Kolkata. They were hiding under false identities, the NIA said.
- Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa was the mastermind behind the planning and execution of the blast and Mussavir Hussain Shazib placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the cafe, it said.
- The NIA said “this pursuit was supported by coordinated action and cooperation among the NIA, central intelligence agencies and the state police agencies of West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala”.
- “NIA, which had been conducting extensive investigations and searches in the case, had announced a reward and also reached out to the general public via social media for information on the absconding accused persons. On Friday, the anti-terror agency finally traced the duo to Kolkata, working in coordination with various other central sister agencies and state police departments of Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, UP, Delhi, AP and Telangana,” the probe agency said.
- On finding out that the terrorists were staying in a lodge near Kolkata under assumed identities, the NIA requested the West Bengal Police for securing the accused and the latter responded promptly, leading to a successful culmination of the search operation and apprehension of both terrorists, it added.
- While BJP co-incharge of West Bengal Amit Malviya hit out at the TMC, saying the party has turned West Bengal into a “safe haven for terrorists”, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the accused were arrested due to the state police's prompt action.
- TMC leader Kunal Ghosh also countered Amit Malviya and said the accused were arrested with the help of West Bengal Police.
- West Bengal Police also termed the BJP's claims "falsehood". The police said Bengal has never been a safe haven for terrorists and it will continue to remain ever-vigilant to keep its people safe.
- Meanwhile, the BJP in West Bengal also posted that NIA's crackdown shows that the state has morphed into a "sanctuary for terrorists".
(With inputs from agencies)
