Bengaluru cafe blast mastermind 'high value' ISIS asset in India: Top points

Bengaluru cafe blast mastermind ‘high value’ ISIS asset in India: Top points

Abdul Matheen Taha, the mastermind behind the blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru, is suspected to be one of the Islamic State terrorist group’s “high value assets” in India. Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, who placed the bomb at the cafe on March 1, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday from their hideout near Kolkata.

The two accused, who were brought to Bengaluru late Friday night and were taken to a detention cell in Madiwala, will be produced before an NIA judge at his residence near Koramangala today at around 10.30 am, about half an hour after they undergo medical tests.

Following their arrest, an NIA special court granted a three-day transit remand of the two men. The remand is scheduled to end on Sunday.

HERE ARE THE TOP DEVELOPMENTS:

• Point #

  Abdul Mateen Taha, wanted by the National Investigation Agency for the past five years, planned and plotted the Bengaluru cafe blast.Â

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• Point #

  Taha has been linked to the IS-sponsored pressure cooker bomb blast in Mangaluru in November 2022, the Shivamogga trial blasts in 2022 and the Al Hind module case in 2020.

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• Point #

  He was in direct contact with a “colonel”, whose name has surfaced in several cases across South and Central India.

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  NIA officials plan to question Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib on the “colonel’s” identity, number of meetings with him, the mode of payment to carry out terrorist activities, and their future plans.

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  Sources told India Today TV that after the cafe blast, Taha planned an escape route for himself from Tamil Nadu and one for Mussavir Hussain from Bengaluru.Â

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  Muzammil Shareef, another accused who was arrested two weeks ago, was instructed by Taha to get the materials required for the IED and assemble it before placing the explosive in the cafe.

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  Taha conducted a recce of the cafe for over a week in an effort to understand the blind spots. He formed entry and exit plans for the bomber in the hotel and from the city.

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  The NIA demanded the three-day transit remand of the accused for a number of reasons, including the large amount of evidence the anti-terror agency collected that need to be corroborated.

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  The NIA wants to interrogate the accused on recovered CCTV footage, as well as on the money they received suspected to be from illegal foreign transactions for the blast.

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  Before the transit remand ends on Sunday, the NIA will continue to interrogate the two accused and produce them before a special court of the agency on Monday.

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