Rameshwaram Cafe blast: Cap used by suspect links Chennai to Bengaluru case

CHENNAI: Tracking more than 1,000 CCTV footage, investigators from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Bengaluru police have found that the two suspects in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast were in Chennai in January and February sources here told DT Next.

What led them to the discovery, the significance of which is yet to be ascertained, is the trail left by a baseball cap that the key suspect was wearing while planting the explosive in the crowded eatery on that day. The cap was purchased from a mall in Chennai city, the sleuths told this newspaper.

The suspect, a native of Thirthahalli in Shivamogga in Karnataka, was staying in Chennai for more than a month since January, officers tracking the case added.

It may be noted that senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje had triggered a massive controversy when she alleged that the cafe blast suspects had come from Tamil Nadu.

"The suspect - Musavir Hussain Shazib - was wearing the cap which his associate had purchased from a mall on RK Salai in Chennai while the two were staying in Triplicane for a month," sources said. The associate, Abdul Mathern Taha, also hails from Thirthahalli and both Shazib and Taha are believed to be part of Shivamogga IS module, said sources.

Taha, a bald man, usually wears a cap to cover his head. It was he who purchased the cap during their stay in one of the lodges in Triplicane.

The sleuths from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Bengaluru police tracked the CCTV footage from the neighborhood and retrieved the cap that Shazib was wearing from the toilet of a mosque situated about two kilometres away from the cafe.

Though it was not a major lead, the investigators decided to probe it thoroughly. From the serial number on the cap, they managed to track the cap to a shop in the mall in the heart of Chennai. Luck, too, played a part, as it was part of a limited edition series from a particular brand, with only around 400 such caps being sold in the whole of South India.

By matching the serial number with the bills, the officers found out that it was sold in January end. After finding the date of purchase, it was a relatively simple matter of collecting the CCTV footage for the date and time when the cap was sold. In the footage, they got the first real break in the case: Taha, a wanted man in a 2020 NIA case. Shazib was a fellow suspect in the same case.

Also Read:Bengaluru cafe blast probe handed over to NIA: sources

This breakthrough triggered yet another round of CCTV trail, which revealed that Shazib was also linked to the Rameshwaram Cafe blast. The duo was staying in a lodge in Triplicane for more than a month.

Poring over hundreds of CCTV footage, the investigators found Shazib returning to Chennai after the blast and they leaving for an unknown location later.

The strands of hair found in the cap have now been sent to a forensic lab for DNA test; sources said it would be matched with Shazib's family members.

"It appears that Shazib went from Chennai, procured the explosive from a source, planted the bomb at the cafe, returned and then vanished. It is not clear from where he sourced the explosive. It may be from Tamil Nadu or Karanataka," sources added.

Shazib's last known location was Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. "We cannot rule out the possibility of the suspects crossing the border immediately after the explosion that rocked the Garden City, leaving many injured on March 1," an officer told DT Next.

Both Shazib and Taha carry reward on information on their whereabouts and are still absconding.