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The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing Bengaluru’s The Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, conducted simultaneous raids and questioned several suspects in Shivamogga, Karnataka, Chennai, and Ramanathapuram districts in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday (March 27).
NIA sleuths on Wednesday raided the residences of Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Abdul Matheen Taha in Thirthahalli. The duo are accused in the 2020 Al Hind IS module case registered in Suddaguntepalya and have been absconding since. They are also said to be the kingpins of the Thirthahalli module and accused in the Mangaluru cooker blast of November 2022. Given the similarity in the timer and detonator devices in the IEDs used in The Rameshwaram Cafe blast and the cooker blast, agencies have suspected the role of the same module.
Sources said by trailing the baseball cap worn by the bomber and reportedly recovered near the scene of the crime after the blast, NIA has reportedly tracked down the shop in Chennai from where the cap was bought. NIA sleuths now believe the duo lived in Chennai before the blast, and Mussavir Hussain may have been the suspected bomber.
NIA sleuths also raided the houses of Mohammed Shariq and Aaraft Ali, both accused in the 2022 cooker blast and currently in prison. They also visited a mobile shop and served notice to two youths to present themselves before the NIA, Bengaluru, for a probe in the case, sources said.
Meanwhile, NIA teams raided four persons in Chennai, seized their mobile phones and served them notice to appear before the NIA, Bengaluru, for investigation on Friday, sources said. Those raided in Chennai have been identified as Abuthahir, Liaqat Ali, Rahim and Abdul Rahim. NIA sleuths suspect they may have sheltered or provided logistical and financial support to Taaha and Hussain, who they suspect stayed in Chennai earlier this year.
NIA sleuths also raided Sheik Dawood in Ramanathapuram district and served him notice to appear before the NIA. He had been questioned by the NIA earlier in connection with other terror cases, in which he was suspected of sheltering the accused and financially aiding them, sources said.
