In a significant breakthrough in the Rameswaram Cafe blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has successfully apprehended the two absconders, Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazeb, from their hideout near Kolkata, news agency ANI reported.
The blast at the Bengaluru cafe on March 1 had left nine people injured.
Mussavir Hussain Shazib is the accused who placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the cafe and Abdul Matheen Taha is the mastermind behind the planning, execution of blast and subsequent evasion from the clutches of law.
On early morning hours on Friday, NIA said, its teams were successful in tracing the absconding accused near Kolkata, where they were hiding under false identities.
“This pursuit, successfully accomplished by NIA was ably supported by energetic coordinated action and co-operation between NIA, Central Intelligence agencies and State Police agencies of West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala police,” the NIA said in a statement.
The arrests come days after the anti-terror agency in a bid to bolster its investigation into the case, widened its scope by delving into the social circles and past associations of the accused, including friends in school-time and college.
As part of its investigation process, the anti-terror agency had also intensified its efforts in the case by summoning and scrutinizing some acquaintances, including college and school-time friends, of both absconding and arrested accused.
NIA said that the individuals from various spheres of the suspects’ lives were being called in for questioning to gather crucial evidence and information pertinent to the case.
The move was part of the agency’s strategy to piece together the puzzle surrounding the alleged activities of the accused. With a focus on tracing the suspects’ connections and possible motives, the NIA said, it left no stone unturned in its pursuit of justice.
The NIA had also requested “the cooperation of all in arrest of absconding accused persons.”
As part of investigation into Rameshwaram Cafe blast dated March 1 at ITPL Road in Bengaluru’s Whitefield, Bengaluru, the NIA had identified the two key accused person who carried out the IED blast. The two accused are residents of Thirthahalli area in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district.
Further, as part of investigation one Muzammil Shareef, a resident of Khalsa in Chikkamagaluru, who extended logistics support to the main accused persons, was arrested on March 26 and was examined in police custody.
As part of efforts to locate and arrest the absconding accused persons, the NIA had conducted searches on 18 locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier on March 29, the NIA also declared rewards of Rs 10 lakh on each of the two key absconders.
