Duo Behind Bengaluru Blast Nabbed
The two men who orchestrated the blasts that rocked a café in Karnataka capital last month have been arrested.
In a major triumph for India’s law enforcers, the National Investigative Agency (NIA) has solved the case of the blast that rattled Rameshwaram Café in Bengaluru locality of White Field last month. This the agency accomplished by tracking down the mastermind behind the terror attack – Abdul Matheen Thaha – as well as the one who planted the bomb – Mussavir Hussain Shazib.
The co-conspirators who both hail from the Shivamogga district of India’s southern state of Karnataka, were apprehended as far away as the country’s eastern state of West Bengal. The NIA team traced the suspects to a hotel in New Digha, some 180 km away from state capital of Kolkata. The sleuths made the double arrest in the early hours of Friday, April 12th, 2024.
Clearly on the run, the criminal duo who were responsible for injuring 9 persons with the explosion in early March, had checked into the hotel on April 9th. Previous to the check-in, they had spent a night at a lodging in Kolkata’s Lenin Sarani area. The NIA had announced a reward of Rs. 10 Lakh for information leading to the culprits’ capture. But it is as yet unclear how they were tipped off. No sooner were the arrests made, than local politicians began politicising the development.
A member of the Bharat Janata Party (BJP) – Amit Malvya – blamed current state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of converting West Bengal into “a safe haven for terrorists.” CM Banerjee for her part, lauded the state police for their role in the arrests and stated that the nabbed duo had been hiding in the "backyard" of Suvendu Adhikari – leader of the state’s opposition.
