New Delhi, May 30
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested one more accused in Rameshwaram Cafe blast of Bengaluru after a massive crackdown in four states.
The accused has been identified as Shoaib Ahmed Mirza (35) alias Chhotu, a resident of Hubbali City, Karnataka, as an ex-convict in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror conspiracy case. He is the fifth accused to be arrested in the case.
The NIA investigations revealed that Mirza, who was convicted earlier in an LeT Bengaluru conspiracy case,
The officials said that he had got involved in this fresh conspiracy after being released from jail. In 2018, he had befriended and introduced accused Abdul Matheen Taha to an online handler suspected to be abroad. Mirza had further provided an e-mail ID for encrypted communication between the handler and Abdul Matheen Taha, who was arrested earlier on 12th April from his hideout in Kolkata (West Bengal) along with co-accused Mussavir Hussain Shazib.
During the course of its investigation into the Rameshwaram Café Blast, which took place on took place
on 1st March 2024, NIA has so far conducted extensive searches at 29 locations across India.
Further investigations into the role of handler and larger conspiracy behind the blast, which left several
injured and caused extensive damage to property, are continuing
