Amidst reports that a Bharatiya Janata Party worker was arrested in the Bengaluru Rameshwaram bomb blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday, April 5 stepped in with a cautionary note against the disclosure of witness identities. “The case being a terror incident, any information on the identity of the witnesses may apart from hampering investigation may also put at risk the individuals being summoned,” said NIA.
“NIA to gather evidence and information in the case have been summoning and examining all of the acquaintances including college and school time friends of the absconding and arrested accused persons,” read the release.
A local media report had said that a BJP worker had been arrested in the case and that he dealt with phones and SIM cards. Though the NIA statement did not directly deny the details of this person, the NIA statement suggests that the man is a witness in the case.
The NIA on March 26 arrested a key suspect Muzammil Shareef in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru. The arrest came after massive raids across multiple locations in three states—Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Muzammil Shareef allegedly provided logistic support to the two other accused.
The bomb blast took place on March 1 in the cafe located on the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) road in the Brookefield area. A low-intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the blast and nine persons were injured in the blast. The NIA took over the case on March 3, and had identified the main accused as Mussavir Shazeeb Hussain. The agency also identified another suspect, Abdul Matheen Taha, who has been involved in other cases. Both these suspects are absconding.
The NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for any information regarding those responsible for the blast. The agency had promised to keep the informant's identity confidential.
In the CCTV footage, the suspect's face was obscured by a mask and glasses, and he was seen purchasing a food token at the cashier counter. The police recovered an IED device and a timer used to detonate the explosive.