Bengaluru cafe blast accused planned to target BJP office: NIA
Investigation Agency (NIA) said its probe into the Bengaluru blast case revealed that the four accused, charged on Monday, made a failed improvised explosive device (IED) attack on the Karnataka BJP office on the day of the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22. The module used dark web and cryptocurrency to fund their mission and later the IED was planted at Rameshwaram cafe on March 1, resulting in injuries to at least nine persons, it said.
Apple Event 2024 Live Updates: iPhone 16 launch, Everything you need to know
«The investigations revealed that Shazib was the man who had planted the bomb. He, along with Taaha, had previously been absconding since 2020 after the Al-Hind module was busted. Extensive searches by the NIA had led to their arrest from their hideout in West Bengal 42 days after the Rameshwaram cafe explosion. The two men, hailing from Shivamogga District of Karnataka, were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to do Hijrah to ISIS territories in Syria,» said the NIA.
The agency said Taaha and Shazib had used fraudulently obtained Indian SIM cards and Indian bank accounts, and also used various Indian and Bangladeshi Identity documents downloaded from the dark web. It said the two were funded by their handler through crypto currencies, which Taaha converted to Fiat with the help of various Telegram based peer-to-peer platforms. The funds were used by the accused to perpetrate various acts of violence in Bengaluru, it said.
The NIA said that the two were actively
