Bengaluru cafe blast | Suspect took buses to Ballari, changed clothes on way: probe

Minaj alias Md Sulaiman, 26; Anas Iqbal Shaikh, 23; Shayan Rahman alias Hussain, 26; and Syed Sameer, 19, were taken into custody for three days to carry out investigations.

They had earlier been arrested in December 2023 during an NIA crackdown.

The cafe blast suspect whose trail has been pieced together through the CCTV footage on his escape route travelled by two intra-state government buses to get to Ballari and travelled further to another unidentified destination, police sources said.

Bengaluru cafe blast | A CCTV grab of the suspect posted by NIA

The CCTV trail on the escape route of the suspect shows him initially getting on to a Volvo bus (KA 47 F 4517) from a bus stop located very close to the cafe.

The suspect changed his attire around 3 km from the cafe, where he discarded the baseball cap and the shirt he had been wearing and emerged in a casual T-shirt, sources said.

The baseball cap has been recovered from the location and is a key evidence in the case, police sources said.

The CCTV trail of the suspect is also picked up on a state bus that leaves Bengaluru from the outskirts at around 3 pm on the day of the blast to Tumkur, located around 60 km from the city.

The visuals of the suspect without a cap and in a new attire was picked up by a camera on the bus, sources said. He is believed to have got off the bus enroute to Tumkur.

Around six hours later, the CCTV trail picks up the suspect again at the Ballari bus stand at 8.58 pm.

Police are probing whether the suspect boarded a bus to another destination from Ballari, which could have taken him to a coastal or a northern border of the state.

The suspect is reported to have changed as many as 10 buses in the course of the journey to plant the bomb at The Rameshwaram Cafe and for his exit after the bombing.

“The suspect may have used a day pass for Volvo city buses for his commute to the site of the terror incident and getaway,” sources said.

The day passes are issued like bus tickets for different values and can be paid in cash at Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation counters.

The suspect’s CCTV trail was picked up first on the morning of the blast near the Silk Board in south east Bengaluru located around 20 km from Whitefield located in east Bengaluru.

“We have some crucial details about the suspect in the Rameshwaram cafe blast case. Investigation has revealed that the accused changed clothes and travelled by bus. We will arrest the accused soon,” Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said Thursday.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said there were leads which cannot be disclosed.

The NIA said the Bengaluru police are coordinating to carry out the investigation which the NIA will take over after being directed to do so by the MHA.

The NIA had incidentally carried out a crackdown on an ISIS module in Ballari in December 2023 and arrested eight persons.

“The eight ISIS agents arrested during the raids were involved in actively promoting terror and terror-related acts and activities of ISIS, the proscribed organisation,” the NIA had said in December 2023 in an official statement.

“The raids also led to the seizure of explosive raw materials, such as sulphur, potassium nitrate, gunpowder, and sharp edged weapons. According to initial investigations, the accused had planned to use the explosive raw materials for fabrication of IEDs, which were to be used for carrying out terror acts,” the NIA said about the 2023 arrests.

The NIA registered a case against the ISIS-inspired Ballari module on December 14, 2023.

Among the eight arrested persons were Minaj alias Md Sulaiman and Syed Sameer of Ballari; Anas Iqbal Shaikh of Mumbai; Mohammad Muniruddin, Syid Samiullah alias Sami, Mohammed Muzammil of Bengaluru; Shayan Rahman alias Hussain of Delhi; and Mohammed Shahbaz alias Zulfikar of Jamshedpur.

The Rameshwaram Cafe blast has been found to have many striking similarities in terms of the timer, detonation system and explosives with an accidental blast that occurred on November 19, 2023, in Mangaluru involving a local ISIS module from Mangaluru and Shivamogga.

The NIA has arrested 10 persons linked to this module since November 2023 but key handlers are still missing.

Police sources said one of the efforts being made by investigators is to look at the sales of all digital timers with circuit boards — like the one used in The Rameshwaram Cafe — to find possible suspects. The kit can be purchased easily and is used for many purposes, sources said

On Wednesday, the NIA announced a Rs 10 lakh reward for information on the suspect seen in the CCTV footage for the cafe blast.