- Wednesday, May 08, 2024
India’s National Investigation Agency, which is probing case, has taken into custody four jailed terror suspects for interrogation after finding potential links between the incident and the Ballari module of the IS, reports said.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S elite National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the March 1 blast at a popular restaurant in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, has taken into custody four jailed terror suspects for interrogation after finding potential links between the incident and the Ballari module of the Islamic State militant outfit in the state of Karnataka, India Today reported.
At least 10 people were injured in the low-intensity blast at Rameshwaram Cafe in eastern Bengaluru which is home to information technology offices at lunch hours.
The four detained are Minaz alias Sulaiman, Syed Sameer, Anas Iqbal Sheikh and Shaan Rehaman who are being questioned in connection with the explosion. A special NIA court granted it the custody of the four individuals till Saturday (9) to look into their connections.
The four were arrested last December after the NIA carried out massive raids in 19 locations across five states in India, including Karnataka of which Bengaluru is the capital. While Minaz is the leader of the Ballari module, Syed Sameer also belongs to the same region as him. Anas Iqbal Sheikh hails from Mumbai while Shaan Rehaman is from Delhi.
Eight IS operatives were arrested in the raids for actively promoting terror and terror-related acts and activities of the terror outfit banned in India. During the raids, the NIA officials also seized explosive raw materials, incriminating documents and unaccounted cash.
Read: Bengaluru cafe blast: Suspect carrying bag spotted in CCTV footage
The IS’s Ballari module is spread from Karnataka to Mumbai and Pune in the western state of Maharashtra to Delhi to the eastern state of Jharkhand. According to the India Today report, Minaz was earlier with the Popular Front of India outfit and got associated with the Ballari module after the Narendra Modi government banned the former in 2022 for five years, citing “major threats”.
Meanwhile, more pictures of the suspect of the blast have surfaced online, showing him travelling in a bus. One of the pictures showed him without wearing a cap or mask, which initial pictures had shown him to be wearing.
Days after the blast at the cafe, the chief minister of Karnataka along with two ministers from his cabinet reportedly received an email giving a bomb threat. According to reports, the email threatened that explosions will be carried out throughout the city on Saturday (9). Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar and home minister G Parameshwara also allegedly received the threat.
The person who sent the threat reportedly sought 2.5 million dollars for not going forward with the explosion.
The cafe, where the blast took place, is set to reopen for the public on Saturday with the singing of the national anthem, it was learnt. The owners conducted puja at the venue on Friday (7) morning. It first reopened for officials and the media before serving the public.
The cafe authorities said the police have recommended precautionary measures and accordingly, they have installed two metal detectors. Rameshwaram Cafe has four branches in Bengaluru and safety measures were implemented in all of them, they said.
The NIA has also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for those who can share information about the suspect.
