Rameshwaram Cafe blast: NIA continues raids in Bengaluru and Shivamogga

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Almost a month after the lowintensity blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in the city, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been continuing the hunt for the people involved in the incident.

On Wednesday, a team of NIA officials conducted raids at five locations in Bengaluru apart from Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district.

The team also visited the house of another suspect in Bhatkal and issued him a notice to appear for a questioning on Thursday at Bengaluru office.

According to sources, the NIA officers have picked up two men from Gurappanapalya in Bengaluru for questioning.

The NIA suspects that the two men were in direct contact with Musavir Hussain, the main suspect in the case. As per the officials, Hussain had come to Bengaluru from Chennai.

The central agency also conducted raids on the houses of Abdul Mateen, Sardar Naveed and Musavir Hussain in Thirthahalli. Naveed is also suspected of helping out Musavir Hussain.

Both Abdul Mateen and Musavir Hussain are absconding, the police said. The NIA also conducted a raid at Moottaikaran Street in Chennai, but the suspect is said to have fled.

It is worth noting that even as the NIA and police teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the suspect has remained elusive.

The authorities had obtained his images and videos from CCTV footage, soon after the incident. The sleuths were suspecting that the bomber had come from Tamil Nadu and had stayed in a neighbouring state for two months before carrying out the blast in Bengaluru.

Recently the hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru.

The authorities have sent the samples for a DNA testing and were hoping for a breakthrough.

The Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast took place on March 1 in the Brookfield area. Low-intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the explosion which injured at least nine persons.