Rameshwaram blast: NIA says accused ISIS radicals, were funded through cryptos

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday chargesheeted four people in connection with the blast at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1.
According to the NIA, accused Mussavir Hussain Shazib, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taaha, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef, have been chargesheeted under relevant sections of IPC, UA(P) Act, Explosive Substances Act and PDLP Act. All four were earlier arrested and are currently in judicial custody in the case.ALSO READ: Rameshwaram cafe blast: Bengaluru woman who lost vision regains 80% of it
On March 1, an improvised explosive device (IED) blast took place at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru, leaving nine people injured.

The IED explosion, which took place on 1st March this year at the Rameshwaram Café, Brookfield, ITPL Bengaluru, had left nine persons injured and extensively damaged the hotel property.ALSO READ: NIA inspects Rameshwaram Cafe blast site in Bengaluru with two arrested suspectsAccording to NIA, probe revealed that Shazib had planted the bomb in the cafe. Along with co-accused Taaha, he had been absconding since 2020 after the Al-Hind module was busted. Extensive searches by the agency had led to their arrest from their hideout in West Bengal, 42 days after the Rameshwaram café explosion.ALSO READ: Cafe blast probe reveals links with ’12, ’20 cases
According to NIA, both Shazib and Taaha, hailing from Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to do Hijrah to ISIS territories in Syria. “They were actively involved in radicalizing other gullible Muslim youth to the ISIS ideology, and Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef were among such youth,” the NIA statement said.
Both Taaha and Shazib used fraudulently-obtained Indian SIM cards and opened bank accounts. The duo used various Indian and Bangladeshi identity documents downloaded from the Dark Web. The NIA stated that probe pointed to Taaha being introduced by ex-convict Shoaib Ahmed Mirza to Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, who is an absconder in the Lashkar-e-Toiba Bengaluru conspiracy case.
“Taaha then introduced Faisal, his handler, to Mehaboob Pasha, an accused in the Al-Hind ISIS module case, and to Khaja Mohideen, Amir of ISIS South India, and later also to Maaz Muneer Ahmed,” the probe revealed.
The NIA stated that both Taaha and Shazib were funded through cryptocurrencies. Taaha converted them to Fiat through various Telegram based P2P platforms. 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 in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram on the day of Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on 22nd January 2024.