Rameshwaram Cafe blast case: NIA identifies key accused; cautions against unverified news

Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday identified the key accused who carried out the blast in Bengaluru's popular Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1.

According to the probe agency, Mussavir Hussain Shazib is responsible for the IED blast. It has also identified Abdul Matheen Taahaa as the co-conspirator in the case. Both are residents of Thirthahalli in Karnataka's Shivamogga district.

"The case being terror incident, any information on the identity of the witnesses may apart from hampering investigation also put to risk the individuals being summoned," NIA said in a statement.

As part of its probe, the agency conducted searches at 18 locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, an NIA spokesperson said. The probe agency had on March 29 announced Rs 10 lakh reward on any information leading to the arrest of each of the absconders.

The NIA took charge of the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case on March 13.

In its press release shared on X, the agency also cautioned against 'unverified news items'.

"Unverified news items hamper effective investigations in the case. NIA requests the cooperation of all in arrest of absconding accused persons," it said.

Earlier today, Karnataka minister Dinesh Gundu Rao claimed that NIA detained a BJP worker in connection with the blast case.

Earlier, a Chikkamagaluru resident Muzammil Shareef was arrested for extending logistics support to the prime accused, the spokesperson said.

While there were no casualties, several people were injured in the blast.