New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Wednesday arrested a “key conspirator” in the Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, a breakthrough in the investigation.
Muzammil Shareef was arrested following raids across 18 locations in three states including 12 in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and one in Uttar Pradesh, the agency’s spokesperson said.
According to an NIA officer, Shareef had extended “logistic support” to the man who carried out the blast at the popular cafe using an improvised explosive device (IED) on 1 March.
The NIA took over the case on 3 March and had earlier identified the main accused, Mussavir Shazeeb Hussain, who had allegedly carried out the blast. The agency also identified another conspirator, Abdul Matheen Taha, who is also wanted by the agency in other cases. Both men are on the run.
NIA sources told ThePrint that all three — Shareef, Hussain and Taha — are associated with ISIS modules under probe by the agency. The men, the sources said, were involved in the Shivamogga graffiti case as well as the Mangaluru cooker blast case reported in November last year.
“These modules are all linked. Hussain, who carried out the blast, had hired people to indoctrinate youngsters and recruit them in their modules. His involvement has come in the Shivamogga graffiti case,” an agency source said.
“Their job is to radicalise and recruit gullible Muslim youth, raise funds, and further conduct trial blast to further the anti-India activities of IS,” the source added.
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Shivamogga to Mangaluru, the ‘link’
In a charge sheet filed in connection with the Shivamogga ISIS conspiracy case earlier this month, the NIA stated that Hussain (who allegedly carried out the Rameshwaram blast) and Taha had instructed a man named Arafath to radicalise and hire men to draw graffiti in Mangaluru supporting proscribed terrorist outfits Islamic State (IS), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Taliban.
The NIA in its charge sheet said that on their instance, Arafath indoctrinated Mohamed Shariq, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and others to draw graffiti in support of terror and terror outfits at two places in Mangaluru.
Arafath had paid the graffiti makers using funds received from his online handler in the form of cryptocurrency, NIA sources said.
Mohammad Shariq, one of the graffiti makers hired by Arafath at the instance of Hussain, was allegedly also involved in the pressure cooker blast in Mangaluru in November last year.
According to NIA sources, Shariq had been carrying the pressure cooker IED in an autorickshaw when it exploded. He had planned to plant the IED at Kadri Manjunatha Temple, Mangaluru, to “create terror among the Hindu community but the low intensify bomb accidentally exploded on the way”, a source said.
“Shariq along with an online handler had planned the explosion as part of a conspiracy to establish a Caliphate (Shariya Law). In pursuance of the conspiracy, Mohamed Shariq had prepared the pressure cooker,” the source added.
At least ten people were injured in the explosion that took place between 12.50 pm and 1 pm at the Rameshwaram Cafe, a popular haunt in the Bengaluru’s Whitefield area, on 1 March.
“NIA investigations have revealed that Muzammil Shareef had extended logistic support to the other two identified accused in the case, involving an IED explosion at the Café. Several customers and hotel staff members were injured, some of them grievously, in the blast, which caused extensive damage to the property,” read a statement issued by the agency.
“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. Efforts are on to nab the absconding accused and unearth the larger conspiracy behind the blast,” it further said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)