Bengaluru cafe blast: NIA announces Rs 10 Lakh bounty for info on 2 suspects

Mangalore Today News Network/News18

Bengaluru, Mar 29, 2024: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday announced a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on the heads of the two key suspects in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe blast case.

The anti-terror agency has urged the general public to share information on Mussavir Hussain Shazib, alias Shazeb, and Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, alias Abdul Matheen Taha, wanted in the case.

 

The agency has put out multiple pictures of Mussavir Hussain Shazib, believed to be the suspect, who placed the bomb at the cafe on March 1, injuring nine.

NIA investigation has revealed that Shazib had been using multiple aliases while booking accommodation at budget hotels and lodges.

 

 

“He has been using a forged driving licence in the name of Mohammed Junayed Sayed or other similar forged identity cards to conceal his identity,” NIA said, adding Shazib has been identified as a 6 feet 2 inches tall man who has a “gym- type body” and straight, black hair.

 

 

NIA probe has revealed that Shazib has been sighted wearing a fake beard, wig, and mask to conceal his real features.

Even in the surveillance camera grabs after the Rameshwaram cafe blast, the suspect can be seen multiple times wearing a cap.

The probe so far has revealed that Shazib and his co-accused, Taahaa, lived in a Chennai lodge at Triplicane for at least two months before the blast.

NIA has sought help from the general public to provide any information about any suspect who resembles the pictures of Shazib. The agency has alerted lodges, boys hostels, and budget hotels in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and nearby states as the suspects prefer using such low-key accommodations.

The agency has also warned that co-accused Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa could be using a forged Hindu name (Sumit or Vighnesh) while on the run.

30-year-old Taahaa is believed to be the mastermind of the ISIS Shimoga module and the main handler in the Mangalore auto blast case. 5 feet 5 inches tall, Taahaa has a receding hairline and often wears a cap.

It was his baseball cap that provided crucial leads to NIA. The agency believes that Shazib wore Taahaa’s limited edition baseball cap while placing the IED at Rameshwaram cafe. The cap was bought from a Chennai mall and later discarded at a place of worship near the blast site has been crucial material evidence in the case.

The duo have been on the run for the last three years. NIA has named them in multiple cases, including the Al-Hind case.

Following the blast, surveillance cameras from Bangalore to Uttar Kannada to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu routes have shown the presence of the duo. NIA is questioning their accomplice Muzammil Shareef in the case. The agency suspects Shareef to have provided explosives, and other material used to assemble the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) used in the blast.

Shareef, a key conspirator behind the blast in Rameshwaram Cafe located on ITPL Road, Brookefield, Bengaluru, was held following massive raids across multiple locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.