Breakthrough in the Bengaluru Cafe Blast Case
Law enforces conduct multiple raids and identify two perpetrators who are still at large.
Almost 4 weeks after a blast rocked a cafe in the Bengaluru area of White Field, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have made some progress in the case. Acting on information extracted from an alleged co-conspirator Muzammil Shareef whom the sleuths had detained on Wednesday, the NIA and the Central Crime Branch (CCB) have conducted multiple raids in Karnataka’s capital, the state’s Shivamogga district, the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu as well as in India’a northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
According to recent reports, law enforcers have descended on as many as 18 locations, 12 of which are in Karnataka alone. On the basis of evidence and interrogation, the NIA suspects a Mussavir Shazeeb Hussain from Shivamogga to have planted the bomb at Rameshwaran Cafe on March 1, 2024. Despite CCTV footage of the perpetrator at the cafe and in a bus which he had subsequently boarded, the NIA have not been able to track him down yet.
Another suspected conspirator Abdul Matheen Taha, also from Shivamogga, is believed to have provided Hussain with logistical and financial support. Both suspects are still on the run. Meanwhile, a Chennai connection to the crime has surfaced on the basis of a head cap that Hussain was wearing during his visit to the Bengaluru cafe and which he subsequently discarded.
Apparently, the limited-edition accessory which was turned in as evidence has been traced to a retail store at a mall in the Tamil Nadu state capital. There are unsubstantiated claims that the conspirators belong to the Islamic State terror outfit. The 10 injured persons in the infamous incident will be especially hoping that the guilty be nabbed and brought to book sooner than later.
