35 SIM cards, fake Aadhaar, driving licences — how Bengaluru cafe blast accused evaded the law

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April 15, 2024 United Kingdom 9

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Fake identity documents such as Aadhaar cards and driving licences with addresses ranging from Maharashtra to Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, apart from 35 SIM cards, helped the Bengaluru cafe blast accused evade investigators for more than a month, sources familiar with the probe have said.


On Friday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mussavir Hussain Shazib (30), who allegedly planted the IED at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1, and Adbul Matheen Taha (30), who orchestrated the attack and subsequent escape. The two were caught from Digha in Purba Medinipur, a little over 180 kilometres from Kolkata.


 



On Saturday, the agency was granted 10-day police custody of the two men by a special terrorism court in Bengaluru. Taha and Shazib were produced before the special terrorism court judge at his residence after they were brought to Bengaluru on a transit warrant. They were produced before the judge after a medical test. “The court has given the NIA 10 days of custody of the accused for further investigations,” a special public prosecutor for the NIA said.ccording to investigators, the two had been staying in West Bengal for roughly three weeks, mostly in low-budget, under-the-radar hotels, and changing aliases frequently. Apart from Digha, where they were finally caught, the men are believed to have stayed in Kolkata, Purulia and Darjeeling, investigators say, based on the questioning of the two men.



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