The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday (21 May 2024) arrested Sohail, a software engineer from Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district, in connection with the Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, people familiar with the matter said. A senior NIA official said this was part of a multi-state raid underway in different locations simultaneously. The officials added that the raided places were Kumaraswamy Layout and Banshankari in Bengaluru.
The agency sleuths swooped on the residence of a retired headmaster, Abdul Gaffoor, in the Nagulabavi area of Atmakur Street in Rayadurgam town early in the morning and carried out searches at a house on specific information that a terror suspect, allegedly having links with the blast at Rameshwaram café in Bengaluru on 1 March. “The NIA authorities conducted the raid after conducting recce in the area for the last three days. They took Gaffoor’s son Sohail into custody for questioning,” a police official from Anantapur privy to the matter said, adding that the local police had provided logistic support to the national agency authorities in their operation.
In his early thirties, the youth and his elder brother are employed at a software company in Bengaluru. The NIA authorities probing the Rameshwaram café blast case discovered that Sohail had allegedly received a huge amount in his bank account. According to South First, an official confirmed to them that Sohail had been under the radar of the NIA and intelligence agencies for a while due to his suspected links with Abdul Matheen, the mastermind of the blast, as per NIA.
The blast at Rameshwaram cafe had occurred on March 1, injuring 10 people. The NIA on 12 April arrested two accused, Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, from West Bengal.
Sohail was later taken to Rayadurgam police station amidst tight security, and after initial questioning, he was shifted to Bengaluru. “The NIA authorities informed Gaffoor and the family in writing about the arrest of Sohail,” the police official quoted above said.
