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NIA makes first arrest in B’luru cafe blast case
NIA arrests Muzammil Shareef for Bengaluru blast at Rameshwaram Cafe; suspected links to Islamic State (IS) terror outfit. Raids conducted in multiple states.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday said it has made its first arrest in connection with the blast at Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru earlier this month, a significant breakthrough in a case that has prompted the federal agency to look into the possible role of terror outfits such as the Islamic State (IS).
In a statement, NIA said Muzammil Shareef, a key conspirator who extended logistic support to two other identified accused for the low-intensity blast at the popular eatery, was arrested on Wednesday after several teams of the federal agency raided 18 locations across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
The remaining accused were identified as Mussavir Shahzeeb Hussain and Abdul Mateen Taha. All three accused are from Shivamogga district in Karnataka, officials aware of the matter said.
While NIA did not provide further details in its statement, the officials cited above said the three accused are part of a terror module linked to IS’s Al Hind division that is active in parts of south India. The officials also said that Hussain carried out the explosion.
“NIA investigations have revealed that Shareef extended logistic support to the other two identified accused (Hussain and Taha) in the case involving an IED explosion at the cafe. Several customers and hotel staff members were injured, some of them grievously, in the blast, which caused extensive damage to the property,” the NIA statement said.
“Raids were conducted today at the houses of all these three accused, as well as the residential premises and shops of other suspects. Various digital devices were seized during the searches, along with cash,” it added.
Efforts are on to nab the absconding accused and unearth a larger conspiracy behind the blast, NIA said.
At least nine people were injured after a low-intensity improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at the popular eatery at ITPL Road in Brookefield on March 1. Preliminary investigations zeroed in on a man who left a bag near the cash counter. NIA took over the case on March 3 on the directions of the ministry of home affairs.
The federal agency, in its statement, said the raids were conducted across 12 locations in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and one in Uttar Pradesh.
According to officials cited above, Hussain carried out the explosion at the cafe. Both Hussain and Taha have also been named by NIA in various charge sheets pertaining to terror cases over the years. The two have also been named in the Mangaluru blast case in November 2022, they said.
“All the three accused in the cafe blast case are part of a module that has links with Islamic State’s Al Hind module that is active in parts of south India,” one of the officials said, seeking anonymity.
“They were also involved in the scribbling of pro-ISIS and Taliban graffiti messages on buildings across Mangaluru in November 2022,” the official added.
In November 2022, an IED kept inside a pressure cooker accidentally went off when it was being taken in an auto rickshaw by one of the accused in Mangaluru. In its charge sheet, NIA said the accused intended to plant the bomb at the Kadri Manjunatha temple as part of an “Islamic State-sponsored” act.
A month earlier, a vehicle-borne (V-IED) driven by accused Jamesha Mubeen blew up in front of a temple in Coimbatore. In its charge sheet, NIA said Mubeen was inspired by the sermons of Zahran Hashim, a radical cleric, who masterminded the Easter serial suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka in 2019.
