A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker has been detained for alleged involvement in the Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, reports claimed on Friday. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) detained Sai Prasad, a BJP activist, in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, according to Asianet News.
Sources informed India Today that the BJP worker was allegedly named by two mobile shop workers who were questioned by the NIA Last week. He was detained from Thirthahalli, the Shivamogga district of Karnataka.
Investigations revealed that Sai Prasad allegedly had contacts with suspects in Thirthahalli and Chikkamagaluru. The NIA had earlier conducted raids on the residences of two youths and a mobile shop owner in Thirthahalli. It was also revealed that police personnel in Chikkamagaluru assisted the mother of the main conspirator in securing a rented house.
Muzammil Shareef, the alleged mastermind behind the Bengaluru cafe blast, originally from Kalasa, relocated his mother to Chikkamagluru with the assistance of the inspector, the report added. Shareef, the key conspirator, was detained by the NIA following massive raids across multiple locations in three states in the case, news agency PTI reported. He was spiked up as a co-conspirator as the NIA teams cracked down at 18 locations, including 12 in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu, and one in Uttar Pradesh.
The NIA, who took over the case on March 3rd, said on Friday that the agency identified the accused person who carried out the IED blast as Mussavir Hussain Shazib and the co-conspirator as Abdul Mateen Taahaa. They’re both from Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district.
The probe further revealed that Muzammil Shareef had extended logistic support to the two identified accused in the case, involving an IED explosion at the Cafe located at ITPL, Brookefield, Bengaluru, on March 1st, 2024.
The NIA said it has been summoning and examining all of the acquaintances, including college and school time friends, of the absconding and arrested accused persons.
