Bengaluru cafe blast case: NIA searches 11 locations, detains 3 including doctor in K’taka

Team Udayavani, May 22, 2024, 10:10 AM IST

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Bengaluru/Hubballi – National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials conducted extensive searches in four locations in Bengaluru and Hubballi on Tuesday. These operations were part of the ongoing investigation into the bomb blast incident at Rameswaram Cafe in Bengaluru.

According to sources, the raids resulted in the detention of three individuals, including a doctor from Bengaluru.

The NIA has also conducted searches at 11 locations across Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. In total, 11 people have reportedly been detained, including three from Karnataka.

The simultaneous raids commenced around 7 AM on Tuesday. NIA officials raided two houses in JP Nagar and Hegde Nagar in Bengaluru, and two locations under the jurisdiction of the Kasabapet police station in Hubballi. The searches continued until noon.

According to sources, among those detained are Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, alias Motu Doctor, from Bengaluru, and Shoaib Mirza alias Chhotu, along with his brother Aziz Ahmed Mirza, from Hubballi. These individuals are accused of providing financial and logistical support to Abdul Matheen Taha of Thirthahalli and  Mussavir Hussain Shazib, the main accused in the Rameswaram Cafe blast. This assistance was allegedly given under the instructions of handlers based abroad.

Sources reported that some digital materials and documents were recovered during the raids.

Sources claimed that Dr. Sabeel Ahmed had been accused in a terror case earlier. In February 2012, a case was registered at the Basaveshwaranagar police station in Bengaluru for conspiring to assassinate Hindu leaders, journalists, and political figures in Bengaluru and Hubballi. Dr. Sabeel, who had been hiding abroad, was reportedly exiled from Afghanistan in 2021 and later arrested in Delhi.

Sources said that later investigations revealed that these individuals were working for the banned terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Dr. Sabeel was granted bail and is currently facing trial in a special NIA court.