Rameshwaram Cafe blast: ‘Accused downloaded Indian, Bangladeshi identity documents from Dark Web’

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a charge sheet against four persons in the Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast case.

The accused, identified as Mussavir Hussain Shazib, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taaha, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef, were earlier arrested and are currently in judicial custody.

They have been chargesheeted under relevant sections of IPC, UA(P) Act, Explosive Substances Act and PDLP Act, the central agency said in a statement.

The NIA said its investigation revealed that Shazib was the man who had planted the bomb. He, along with Taaha, had previously been absconding since 2020 after the Al-Hind module was busted. 

The duo, hailing from Shivamogga district of Karnataka, were arrested from their hideout in West Bengal 42 days after the explosion.

The NIA claimed that both Shahib and Taaha were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to do Hijrah to ISIS territories in Syria. “They were actively involved in radicalizing other gullible Muslim youth to the ISIS ideology, and Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef were among such youth,” it said.

The IED explosion, which took place on March 1 this year at the eatery in Brookfield, had left nine persons injured and extensively damaged the property.

The NIA, which took over the probe on March 3, conducted several technical and field investigation in coordination with various state police forces and other agencies.

The agency further claimed in its chargesheet that both 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.

The NIA investigation revealed that Taaha had been introduced by an ex-convict, Shoaib Ahmed Mirza, to Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, an absconder in the LeT Bengaluru conspiracy case.

“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,” it said.

The agency claimed that Taaha and Shazib were funded by their handler through crypto currencies, which Taaha converted to Fiat with the help of various Telegram based P2P platforms.

The investigations further revealed that the funds were used by the accused to perpetrate various acts of violence in Bengaluru.

"These included a failed IED attack at the State BJP Office, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, on the day of Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on 22nd January 2024, after which the two key accused had planned the Rameshwaram café blast," it said, adding that the investigation is still on.