Bengaluru blast mastermind, bomber arrested from Bengal

“Shazib is the accused who placed the IED at the cafe, and Taha is the mastermind behind the planning and execution of the blast and subsequent evasion from the clutches of law,” the spokesperson said.

Sources in the state police and the central agency said the two men had been in West Bengal for roughly three weeks — checking into small hotels and living under aliases — until their luck ran out. The West Bengal police maintained that the two were arrested as part of a joint operation.

The NIA had last month released photographs and details of Taha and Shazib, both aged 30, and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to their arrest. “During investigation, the NIA also found four eyewitnesses, who confirmed their presence at the crime scene and identified them,” a source said.

In the weeks following the blast, the NIA coordinated with central Intelligence agencies and police forces of West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala.

As part of its probe, the NIA scanned more than 300 CCTV clips to zero in on the two men, who are allegedly affiliated to the Islamic State and had first emerged on the radar of security agencies in 2020.

“The NIA has also named two more people as accused in the case. One of them, Maaz Muneer Ahmed (26), was in prison at the time of the incident. The other accused is Muzammil Shareef (30), who was arrested by the NIA on March 27 for allegedly providing logistics like cell phones, fake SIM cards and other materials that were used to plan and execute the blast, which left nine people injured,” an official said.

“Investigation has also revealed that Taha used cryptocurrency to finance the operation and avoid detection. He used various conduits, including stolen identities and IDs of people recruited for the ISIS cause in different parts of India, to transfer cryptocurrency to Shareef to arrange logistics for the blast,” an official said, adding that Taha is an IT graduate.

As part of its probe, a cap abandoned by the accused who planted the IED had led the investigators to a Chennai mall. The NIA indicated that Taha stayed at lodging facilities in Chennai in February ahead of the blast under different names such as Vignesh and Sumit. Shazib too stayed in Chennai under an alias.

According to sources, after they went on the run, the two entered Bengal from Odisha via road. They were caught from Digha in Purba Medinipur, a little over 180 kilometers from Kolkata.

“On finding out that the two were staying in a lodge near Kolkata under assumed identities, the NIA requested the West Bengal police for securing the accused and the latter responded promptly, leading to a successful culmination of the search operation and apprehension of both terrorists,” the agency’s spokesperson said.

On Friday, both the accused were produced before an NIA special court in Kolkata, where the agency was granted three-day transit remand to take the two to the blast site.

According to sources, the two had been staying in Bengal for around three weeks, checking into hotels under fake identities and changing their hideout every two-three days. Most of the hotels they checked into were small in scale, with tariffs as low as Rs 500-1,000.

“We received information last night based on which the West Bengal police and the central agency launched a joint operation, and within two hours, arrested the duo. I want to reiterate that it was a joint operation,” said Purba Medinipur Superintendent of Police Soumyadip Bhattacharya.

According to sources, officers who went to arrest the duo were dressed in plainclothes to avoid suspicion. Sources said the NIA collected Shazib’s shoes from the spot and matched them with what was visible on CCTV footage.

Sources said the men had also stayed in a hotel in Kolkata using fake IDs around March 13-14. The hotel manager told The Indian Express, “They told us that they had come from Darjeeling and were heading to Chennai. In our register, they identified themselves as tourists. On March 14, they checked out around noon.” The room here cost Rs 750.

According to NIA sources, Taha made a slip while staying in the hotel here — he first checked in under the name Vignesh, using a fake Aadhaar card, but later put another fake name in the register.