Bengaluru cafe blast: NIA grills software engineer and his brother

Bengaluru, May 22 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru, is questioning a software engineer and his brother from Hubballi city for their alleged links with the arrested suspected bomber and the mastermind, according to sources.

Sources explained on Wednesday that the NIA conducted raids on the residence of the techie in Ghousia Town of Hubballi city. Following the raid, the techie and his brother were taken into custody for questioning and were grilled till late in the night.

The software engineer and his brother are to be further questioned by the NIA on Wednesday. The investigation is focusing on their connections with the suspected bomber Mussavir Hussain Shazib and mastermind Abdul Matheen Taha.

The probe into the money transactions of the arrested suspects led the NIA to the software engineer and his brother. Searches were also conducted at the residence of the techie’s wife in Belagavi city, according to sources.

It is believed that the techie and his brother communicated with the suspected terrorists using code language. After the bomb exploded at the cafe in Bengaluru, the suspected bomber Mussavir reportedly went to Hubballi, where he received help from the techie.

Mussavir allegedly received money from the techie and then travelled to West Bengal to hide. On Tuesday, the NIA conducted raids on four residences in Banashankari and Kumaraswamy Layout in Bengaluru. An official statement from the NIA is yet to be issued regarding this matter.

The NIA arrested suspected bomber Mussavir Hussain Shazib and mastermind Abdul Matheen Taha from Kolkata in April. The suspected terrorists aimed to target techies and instil fear among software professionals. They believed that such an incident would harm India's global image.

Mussavir visited the cafe in Bengaluru on March 1 and planted a low-intensity Improvised Explosive Device on the premises. Several staff members were injured, some grievously, in the blast, which caused extensive damage to the property.