NIA Conducts Multi-State Raids In Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe Blast Case

The probe agency 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 the assumed identities.

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday carried out multi-state raids in connection with its probe in Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, officials said. Several customers and hotel staff members were injured, some of them grievously, in the blast that caused extensive damage to the cafe in the IT city on March 1. The raids were carried out based on the inputs about the links of some suspects with those involved in the crime, they said.

Kumaraswamy Layout and Banashankari in Bengaluru were among the places that were raided, the officials said. "Multi-state raids were underway in different locations," a senior NIA official said.

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 the assumed identities. The two are allegedly members of the Shivamogga-based Islamic State module. Shariq, a member of the same module, had carried out the blast in Mangaluru on November 19, 2022, the officials said.