Bengaluru's Eatery blast mastermind, bomber arrested from Bengal

The two men who plotted and executed the blast that rocked Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru last month have been arrested from Kanthi in Bengal's East Midnapore district, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said Friday morning.

The NIA said Mussavir Hussain Shazib had placed the IED at the cafe and Abdul Matheen Taha was the mastermind behind the planning and execution of the blast. Both of them are already wanted in a 2020 terrorism case. The NIA said Abdul Matheen Taha was involved with the Bengaluru Module of ISIS — Al--Hind.

In a statement, the NIA said the accused were hiding under false identities. They were nabbed in a coordinated action between Central intelligence agencies and police personnel from West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala.

On March 29, the anti-terror agency released the photographs and details of the two accused and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information on each of them. The agency had said that Shazib was using the name 'Mohammed Juned Sayed' to conceal his identity. Taha was using Hindu identity documents and a forged Aadhar card with the name Vignesh, the agency said.

These are the second and third arrests in this case; last month Muzammil Shareef, who extended logistical support to the Shazeb and Taha, was taken into custody.

The blast at Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1 injured 10 people, customers and staff. Fortunately, there were no deaths; the bag containing the explosives was placed in a relatively less crowded area and against a large pillar that absorbed the brunt of the explosion.