2 key Bengaluru blast suspects held in West Bengal

New Delhi, April 12

The two absconding men, who had allegedly plotted and executed the blast at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe last month, were on Friday morning arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from near Kolkata.

Shazeb placed IED at site

• Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazeb were traced to their hideout near Kolkata by the NIA and apprehended
• Shazeb had placed the IED at the cafe while Taha was the mastermind behind the planning and execution of the March 1 blast

Their arrest from West Bengal led to a political slugfest between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha poll, with the BJP claiming that the TMC regime had turned the state into a safe haven for terrorists. The BJP’s remarks drew a riposte from the TMC and the West Bengal Police, who pointed out that the NIA arrested the suspects with the help of the state police. Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazeb were traced to their hideout near Kolkata by the NIA and were apprehended, sources said. Shazeb had placed the IED at the cafe while Taha was the mastermind behind the planning and execution of the blast, the sources said. The blast had taken place on March 1.

The NIA special court, Kolkata, where the two suspects were produced after their arrest, granted their three-day transit remand to the agency.

Taha had worked on the escape plans and managed to evade arrest all these weeks along with his co-accused. The duo, along with their co-accused Maaz Muneer Ahmed, was also involved in terror cases earlier. Last month, Muzammil Shareef, who had extended logistic support to Shazeb and Taha, was taken into custody.

On Friday morning, the NIA was successful in tracing the absconding suspects to Kolkata where they were hiding under false identities.

The NIA was assisted by central intelligence agencies and the police of West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala.

Residents of Shivamogga district in Karnataka, Shazeb and Taha were traced to Kanthi after officials conducted searches at 18 locations across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

The explosion had occurred in the seating area of the cafe, leaving 10 persons, including customers and staff members, grievously injured.

While the NIA lauded the cooperation received from the West Bengal Police in nabbing the two suspects, the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP traded barbs.

“…West Bengal, unfortunately, under Mamata Banerjee, has become a safe haven for terrorists,” Amit Malviya, co-incharge of the BJP in West Bengal, posted on X.

Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said due to the “appeasement politics” of the TMC government, the state had “turned into a link” for various terror activities across the country over the past few years.