Bengaluru Cafe blast: NIA detains two more suspects

Bengaluru, March 28 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained two more suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, sources said on Thursday.

The accused were picked up from Bengaluru. Sources said the accused were suspected to be in touch with the bomber and the detained persons were associated with banned Al-Hind Trust.

However, the official statement from the NIA is yet to be made. So far no arrests have been made in the blast case. Four persons have been detained, including the two on Thursday. A suspect was detained earlier but was allowed to go after questioning.

The sleuths had conducted raids at five locations in Bengaluru, 15 in Shivamogga and six in Chennai on Wednesday.

The NIA has identified the main accused in the blast, a native of Shimoga in Karnataka, said sources. There were intelligence inputs from the central agencies about the main accused having stayed in multiple locations in Tamil Nadu along with his aide.

The agency had detained two suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The preliminary probe revealed that the two were in direct contact with the suspected bomber.

Even as the NIA and police teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the bomber has remained elusive. The authorities had obtained the bomber's images and videos from CCTV footage on March 1, soon after the blast incident.

Sources said that 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.

The hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru near a religious place. The authorities have sent the samples for the 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 blast and nine persons were injured in the incident.