Kolkata: A metropolitan court here sent the two prime suspects in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe IED blast case to a three-day National Investigation Agency (NIA) transit remand.
The ‘absconding terrorists’ Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa were traced and arrested from Kanthi in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district following a joint operation by an NIA team and state police on Friday morning.
“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the two absconding terrorists, including the mastermind, in the Bengaluru café blast case after tracking them to their hideout near Kolkata in West Bengal, bringing to an end a month-long manhunt for the duo,” NIA said in a statement.
Medical tests of the duo were conducted at a state hospital before they were produced before the metropolitan court.
Mussavir had placed the IED at the café, located on ITPL Road in Brookefield, while Matheen was the mastermind, NIA said.
The Rameshwaram Café was rocked by an IED explosion on March 1.
Though there was no fatality, several customers and hotel staff were injured, some of them grievously. The blast also caused extensive damage to the property.
NIA took over the probe on March 3, announcing a reward of rs 10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the two accused.
NIA said the “pursuit was supported by coordinated action and cooperation among the NIA, central intelligence agencies and the state police agencies of West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala”.
“NIA, which had been conducting extensive investigations and searches in the case, had announced a reward and also reached out to the general public via social media for information on the absconding accused persons. On Friday, the anti-terror agency finally traced the duo to Kolkata, working in coordination with various other central sister agencies and state police departments of Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, UP, Delhi, AP and Telangana,” the probe agency said.
BJP has hit out at Trinamool Congress (TMC), with the party’s West Bengal co-incharge Amit Malviya accusing the ruling party of turning the state into a “safe haven for terrorists”.
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, slamming BJP for playing politics, said the accused were arrested due to the state police’s prompt action.
