NIA chargesheets 4 in Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, says BJP Bengaluru office first target

CHENNAI: The NIA on Monday chargesheeted four men in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case and said the accused were involved in a "failed IED attack" at the Bengaluru BJP office on the day of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

It said two of the key accused were ISIS (banned terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) radicals who used fraudulently obtained "Indian SIM cards and Indian bank accounts" besides "various Indian and Bangladeshi Identity documents downloaded from the dark web (which is accessible only through specialised browsers) in carrying out their nefarious activities.

In a charge sheet filed before a court in Bengaluru, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) named Mussavir Hussain Shazib, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taaha, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef, as accused.

All of them were arrested earlier and are currently in judicial custody in the case, a statement issued by the NIA said.

Taaha and Shazib were funded by their handler through cryptocurrencies, which Taaha converted to cash with the help of various Telegram-based peer-to-peer or P2P platforms, it said.

"The funds were used by the accused to perpetrate various acts of violence in Bengaluru, investigations further revealed. These included a failed IED attack at the state BJP Office, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, on the day of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024, after which the two key accused planned the Rameshwaram Cafe blast," the statement said

The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion, which took place on March 1, at the popular cafe in Bengaluru's Brookfield left nine people injured and caused extensive damage to the property.

The NIA, which started investigating the case on March 3, conducted several technical and field investigations in coordination with various state police forces and other agencies. The investigations revealed that Shazib had planted the bomb, the probe agency said.

He, along with Taaha, had been absconding since 2020 after the Al-Hind module (relating to a major terror conspiracy involving targeted killings and other jihadi activities in Karnataka) was busted, the statement said.

Extensive searches by the NIA had led to their arrest from their hideout in West Bengal 42 days after the Rameshwaram Cafe explosion.

The two men, hailing from Shivamogga district of Karnataka, were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to do 'Hijrah' (migrate) to ISIS territories in Syria, it said.

"They were actively involved in radicalising other gullible Muslim youth to the ISIS ideology, and Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef (both chargesheeted accused) were among such youth," the statement said.

Taaha and Shazib had used fraudulently obtained Indian SIM cards and Indian bank accounts, and also used various Indian and Bangladeshi Identity documents downloaded from the dark web, it said.

Investigations further revealed that Taaha had been introduced by an ex-convict, Shoaib Ahmed Mirza, to Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, an absconder in the LeT (Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists' organisation) Bengaluru conspiracy case (aimed at target killings of prominent leaders of a particular section of society, journalists and police officers), the statement added.

Taaha then introduced Faisal, his handler, to Mehaboob Pasha, an accused in the Al-Hind ISIS module case, and to Khaja Mohideen, Amir of ISIS South India, and later also to Maaz Muneer Ahmed, the NIA said.