India's NIA arrests ex-Lashkar-e-Taiba convict in connection with Rameshwaram cafe blast

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday (May 24) arrested another accused in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case that took place in the southern Karnataka state's Bengaluru city in March.

This is the fifth person to be arrested by the agency in the case.

The accused has been identified as 35-year-old Shoaib Ahmed Mirza alias Chhotu who was an ex-convict in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror conspiracy case. He is a resident of Hubbali City in Karnataka.

"Three days after a massive crackdown across four states in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, the NIA on Friday arrested one more accused, identified as an ex-convict in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror conspiracy case," the agency said in a statement.

NIA stated that after being released from prison, Mirza got involved in this conspiracy.

In 2018, he became friends with accused Abdul Matheen Taahaa and introduced him to an online handler who is suspected to be living abroad, said the federal probe agency.

Mirza then set up an e-mail ID in order to establish a channel for encrypted communication between the handler and Abdul Matheen Taahaa.

Taahaa was apprehended on April 12 along with co-accused Mussavir Hussain Shazib from Kolkata in the eastern state of West Bengal.

Shazib, as per the agency, had placed the IED at Rameshwaram cafe, and Taahaa was the 'mastermind' of the conspiracy.

"The absconders in the Rameswaram Cafe blast case, Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, were traced to their hideout near Kolkata and apprehended by an NIA team. In the early morning hours of April 12, the NIA successfully traced the absconding accused near Kolkata, where they were hiding under false identities," the NIA statement said.

"Mussavir Hussain Shazib is the accused who placed the IED at the café, and Abdul Matheen Taha is the mastermind behind the planning, execution of the blast, and subsequent evasion from the clutches of law," NIA added.

NIA conducts raids at 11 places in four states

The development comes after the federal probe agency, in a massive crackdown, conducted raids at several locations in four states to uncover the Rameshwaram Cafe blast conspiracy.

NIA teams searched 11 locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, said the agency.

The blast at Rameshwaram Cafe in the Whitefield area of Bengaluru took place on March 1, wounding nine people and causing severe damage to the eatery.

The Federal probe agency took over the case from the Karnataka Police on March 3.

(With inputs from agencies)