Rameshwaram Cafe Blast case: NIA files chargesheet, claims BJP head office in Bengaluru was first target

A police official stands guard at the Rameshwaram cafe blast site, in Bengaluru, on March 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday (September 9, 2024) filed a chargesheeted against four accused in The Rameshwaram Café blast case. A low-intensity IED explosion shook the restaurant in Brookefield, Bengaluru on March 1, 2024, leaving nine injured. 

In a big revelation, NIA has claimed that the module’s initial target for the terror attack was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) head office in Karnataka — Jagannath Bhavan in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram on January 22, 2024, the day Ram Lalla was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple and there were festivities at the BJP office. However, NIA said that the attack failed and they later recouped and targeted The Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1. 

The accused, identified as Mussavir Hussain Shazib, the alleged bomber at the cafe, and his close associate Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taaha, both hail from Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district. They were also accused in the Islamic State (IS) inspired Al-Hind terror module case and were on the run from security agencies for years till they were arrested from near Kolkata on April 12, 2024.

Two youths that the duo radicalised in Shivamogga and Chikkamagalur districts — Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef — were also allegedly involved in the terror plot and chargesheeted in the case. They have been charged under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and various other laws. 

ISIS radicals

“The two men, hailing from Shivamogga district of Karnataka, were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to do Hijrah to ISIS territories in Syria. They were actively involved in radicalising other gullible Muslim youth to the ISIS ideology, and Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef were among such youth,” NIA said in a press statement on Monday. 

“Taaha and Shazib had used fraudulently obtained Indian SIM cards and Indian bank accounts, and also used various Indian and Bangladeshi identity documents downloaded from the Dark Web. Investigations further revealed that Taaha had been introduced by an ex-convict, Shoaib Ahmed Mirza, to Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, an absconder in the LeT Bengaluru conspiracy case. Taaha then introduced Faisal, his handler, to Mehaboob Pasha, an accused in the Al-Hind ISIS module case, and to Khaja Mohideen, Amir of ISIS South India, and later also to Maaz Muneer Ahmed,” the NIA claimed.

Funded through cryptocurrencies

Taaha and Shazib were funded by their handler through cryptocurrencies, which Taaha converted to Fiat with the help of various Telegram based P2P platforms. The funds were used by the accused to perpetrate various acts of violence in Bengaluru, including a failed IED attack at the State BJP Office, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru,” NIA said in a statement on Monday.

It can be recalled that a bike-borne low-intensity IED had exploded in front of the BJP head office in Malleshwaram on April 17, 2013, injuring many. A Tamil Nadu-based terror module which was formed from the remnants of Al Umma was held responsible for that attack.