During the course of its investigation into the Rameshwaram Café Blast, which took place on March 1, 2024 in Bengaluru, NIA has so far conducted extensive searches at 29 locations across India in five states, including Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh.
As the case was handed over to NIA on March 3, the security agency started to put the information and intelligence inputs into action mode. As part of the investigation, initially, the NIA conducted searches on 18 locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. Further, rewards of rupees Ten Lakhs on each of the absconders were declared on March 29.
On March 26, NIA arrested Muzammil Shareef, a resident of Khalsa, Chikkamagaluru, who was accused of extending logistics support to the main accused persons. Later, the agency identified Mussavir Hussain Shazib as the man who planted the IED at the café and Abdul Matheen Taha as the mastermind behind the conspiracy for the plan and execution of the explosion. On April 12, NIA, with the continuous coordination of various Central sister agencies and state police departments of Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, UP, Delhi, AP and Telangana, tracked two absconding terrorists, Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Abdul Matheen Taha, at a hideout lodge in Kolkata, West Bengal. These two were residents of Thirthahalli, Shivamogga District, Karnataka.
To gather evidence and information in the case, NIA has been summoning and examining all of the acquaintances including college and school time friends of the absconding and arrested accused persons.
According to media reports, the two accused were in contact with some of the accused in the 2012 Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) conspiracy case in Bengaluru, including a few who were freed from prison in 2017 after completing a five-year prison sentence and those living abroad.
On May 21, the NIA conducted extensive raids across 11 locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana,
and Andhra Pradesh.
Karnataka: NIA searched the home of Anzar Shah Qasmi, a moulvi of the mosque, and the residence of Dr Sabeel Ahmed; both have a history of terror links to global Islamic terrorist organisations. The 54-year-old Anzar Shah Qasmi was linked to an al Qaeda recruitment plot in 2016, and Dr Sabeel Ahmed was an undertrial for the 2012 LeT conspiracy case and was arrested upon arriving in New Delhi from Saudi Arabia.
Andhra Pradesh: The NIA detained Sohail, a software engineer from Bengaluru, after searching the residence of his father, Abdul Gaffoor, a retired principal, in Rayadurgam town, Anantapur district. It is believed that authorities discovered large sums of money had been transferred to Sohail’s bank account, raising suspicions of his involvement in the terror plot. It is reported that Sohail’s missing sibling is also under the surveillance radar.
Telangana: The agency picked a trader in Vikarabad district who is claimed to be in his fifties, originally from Pune but now lives in Nanded, Maharashtra, and travels to Vikarabad to run a fruit business.
Tamil Nadu: Searched the residences of Dr Zafar Iqbal (38yrs) and Dr Nayueem Siddique (39 years) in Coimbatore. According to reports, both of these doctors, who have been in Tamil Nadu for two years, are originally from Karnataka and were linked to the 2012 LeT conspiracy.
On May 24, 35-year-old, Shoaib Ahmed Mirza Chhotu, a resident of Hubbali City, Karnataka, was arrested, becoming the fifth accused to be arrested in the Rameshwaram Blast case. NIA investigations revealed that Mirza, who was convicted earlier in a LeT Bengaluru conspiracy case, had gotten involved in this fresh conspiracy after being released from jail.
In 2018, Mirza befriended and introduced accused Abdul Mateen Taha to an online handler suspected to be abroad. He had further provided an e-mail ID for encrypted communication between the handler and Abdul Matheen Taha, who was arrested earlier on April 12 from his hideout in Kolkata along with co-accused Mussavir Hussain Shazib.
As the investigation unfolds, it becomes evident that Islamic terrorism and its connections with external forces aiming to destabilise the country are active, with sleeper cells awaiting opportunities to strike terror in the Hindu community. The suspected list includes three professional doctors and a software engineer, highlighting that these individuals have access to modern technology and education.These individuals have deeply conspired to tarnish the image of Bengaluru.
It is a well-established pattern that some Muslims play the victim card to justify their violence whenever Islamic terrorism is debated or discussed. In Bharat, however, there is no room for such victimhood. The country has been grappling with this issue since the arrival of Islamic invaders, whose aim was to convert this land into an Islamic nation. Although they succeeded in separating parts of the land, forming Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, Bharat continues to face the challenges posed by their legacy, and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is one such provision to rescue the victims of Islamic terrorism and religious persecution.
A complete silence or limiting to the mere condemnation of the Rameshwaram bomb blast from so-called well-established Muslim organisations like All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Tablighi Jamaat and several others is quite alarming because they hold a significant and heavy influence on their community to build Mosque and Islamic centric society.
The self-proclaimed civil society, composed of retired bureaucrats, members of the judiciary, and global NGOs, often actively engages with the judicial system and the President’s office on issues and developments related to the Hindu community. However, these same voices conspicuously vanish when incidents like the Rameshwaram Café blasts occur and investigations point to elements of Islamic terrorism. This glaring hypocrisy poses a significant threat.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent developments, Indian Muslims, Islamic organisations, and civil society members have actively and freely voiced their opinions both offline and online. However, they have remained conspicuously silent on the involvement of Indian Muslims in the Rameshwaram Café blast.
In summary, it is expected that Indian Muslims should break free from the control of strict mosque authorities or external influences and integrate more fully into the broader national fabric.
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