'Funds via cryptocurrency, blast on Ram temple inauguration day': What NIA chargesheet said about Rameshwaram cafe blast accused

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a chargesheet against the four accused in Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe blast case. As the investigation continues, the press release shared by the agency said the accused, Mussavir Hussain Shazib, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taaha, were IS radicals and were funded by their handler through cryptocurrencies.
The agency also mentioned that apart from Rameshwaram Cafe, they had also planned an IED blast at the BJP office in the city on the day of Ram temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony.
"The funds were used by the accused to perpetrate various acts of violence in Bengaluru, investigations further revealed. These included a failed IED attack at the state BJP Office, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, on the day of Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on 22nd January 2024, after which the two key accused had planned the Rameshwaram cafe blast," the statement said.
As the blast bid at the BJP office failed, the two key accused planned the Rameshwaram Cafe blast.
The investigation also revealed the bomb was planted by Shazib at Rameshwaram Cafe.
The two key accused, Shazib and Taaha who hail from Karnataka's Shivamogga district, were actively involved in radicalising Muslim youth to the IS ideology.
"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," the statement said.
Investigations further revealed that Taaha had been introduced by an ex-convict, Shoaib Ahmed Mirza, to Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, an absconder in the LeT Bengaluru conspiracy case, it added.
The other two arrested accused, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef, were among those influenced by the Shazib and Taaha.
Nine people were injured after a blast explosion at Bengaluru's popular Rameshwaram cafe during the busy lunch hour on March 1.