Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two suspects from West Bengal in the blast case of a popular eatery in Karnataka's Bengaluru -- The Rameshwaram Cafe, as per sources. The incident had occured on March 1.
The absconders in the Rameswaram Cafe blast case, Adbul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazeb were traced out to their hideout near Kolkata and were apprehended by the NIA team.
Mussavir Hussain Shazib is the accused who placed the IED at the Café and Abdul Matheen Taha is the mastermind behind the planning, execution of blast and subsequent evasion from the clutches of law.
Last week, the proboing agency identified one Mussavir Hussain Shazib as the key accused who carried out the blast and Abdul Matheen Taahaa as the co-conspirator.
Both who carried out at the blast and co-conspirator are residents of Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district of Karnataka.
Further, as part of the investigation, Muzammil Shareef, a resident of Khalsa, Chikkamagaluru, who extended logistics support to the main accused persons, was arrested on March 26 and was examined in police custody, the spokesperson said.
As part of the efforts to locate and arrest the absconding accused persons, the NIA has conducted searches at 18 locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, an NIA spokesperson said.
The blast which took place on March 1 at the popular eating joing in Bengaluru, injured several people. The restaurant is located at ITPL Road, Brookefield.
The agency declared rewards of Rs 10 lakh on information leading to the arrest of each of the absconders on March 29.
The NIA has been summoning and examining all acquaintances, including college and school friends, of the absconding and arrested accused persons to gather evidence and information in the case, the spokesperson said.
It being a terror incident, any information on the identity of the witnesses may put them in risk in addition to hampering investigation. Also, unverified news items hamper effective investigation in the case, the agency said.
The NIA sought the cooperation of all for the arrest of the absconding accused persons, the spokesperson said.
On the arrest of two key suspects, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said, "The hands of the law have started moving, culprits have been caught that is something that should be encouraging to those who believe in democracy. India is a great country, and Bengal is a famous part of that. If a criminal tries to hide anywhere in India, he will be arrested that is a lesson can be learned from this..."
ALSO READ | IIT Guwahati: Student found dead in hostel room, police suspect suicide
