Chennai: The enigmatic headgear, concealing the countenance of the principal suspect in the widely circulated CCTV footage pertaining to the Rameshwaram cafe explosion on March 1 in the capital of Karnataka, Bengaluru, has facilitated the National Investigation Agency in discerning the suspect alongside his confederate.
In the ongoing inquiry into the minor detonation, which inflicted injuries upon 10 individuals, including two diner staff members, the NIA has unveiled a connection to Tamil Nadu in the matter, with both the perpetrators presumed to have sojourned in Chennai in January, during which they procured the exclusive baseball cap from a retail establishment in Mylapore.
Sources within the NIA have disclosed that both individuals lodged in Chennai’s Triplicane vicinity from mid-January to early February, during which the primary suspect, identified as Musavir Hussain Shazib, in conjunction with his associate Abdil Mathern Taha, acquired the baseball cap from a shopping emporium in Mylapore, Chennai.
The cap was discovered by NIA personnel approximately 3 kilometers from the targeted cafe, containing traces of hair which have been dispatched for DNA analysis by the investigative team. Sources indicate that the cap emanated from a limited edition series, with its serial number enabling NIA operatives to trace its origin to the retail outlet where it was vended.
It has come to light that a total of 400 individuals hailing from southern states availed themselves of the limited edition cap, thereby facilitating the NIA’s investigative efforts.
Footage retrieved from the mall’s CCTV system by the Tamil Nadu police depicted two individuals purchasing the cap from the vendor. By correlating the images captured within the mall with those obtained from the public transit system’s CCTV feed, the NIA successfully homed in on the principal suspect.
In light of the analysis conducted on the newly acquired CCTV footage, the NIA has disseminated fresh images of the principal suspect, Shazib.
It has been ascertained that the principal suspect, Shazib, and his associate, Abdil Mathern Taha, have been sought by law enforcement for a period of four years in connection with an IS-related case dating back to 2020, and have remained under the scrutiny of investigative agencies for a considerable duration.
Furthermore, the NIA has announced a bounty of Rs 10 lakh for any information pertaining to the whereabouts of the two suspects implicated in the case.
