Bengaluru cafe blast case: NIA chargesheets 4, says accused involved in ‘failed IED attack’ on Bengaluru BJP office

Mussavir Hussain Shazib, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taaha, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef — all currently in judicial custody — have been chargesheeted under various sections of the IPC, UAPA, Explosive Substances Act and PDLP Act, it said.

Taaha and Shazib were funded by their handler through cryptocurrencies, which Taaha converted to cash with the help of various Telegram-based peer-to-peer or P2P platforms, it said. “The funds were used by the accused to perpetrate various acts of violence in Bengaluru, investigations further revealed. These included a failed IED attack at the state BJP office, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, on the day of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024, after which the two key accused planned the Rameshwaram Cafe blast,” the statement said.

The IED explosion at the cafe in Bengaluru’s Brookfield on March 1, 2024 left nine people injured and caused extensive damage to the property. The NIA took over the probe on March 3.

Investigations revealed that Shazib had planted the bomb, the statement said, adding that he, along with Taaha, had been absconding since 2020 after the Al-Hind module was busted.

Extensive searches by the NIA had led to their arrest from their hideout in West Bengal 42 days after the blast.

The two men from Shivamogga district were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to undertake ‘Hijrah’ (emigrate) to ISIS territories in Syria, the statement said.

“They were actively involved in radicalising other gullible Muslim youth to the ISIS ideology, and Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef were among such youth,” it said.

“Investigations also 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,” the statement said.

“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.

(With PTI inputs)