Rameshwaram Cafe Blast: NIA arrests two key suspects:- The National Investigation Agency announced on Friday that they have apprehended the two individuals responsible for the recent explosion at Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru. Mussavir Hussain Shazeb and Abdul Matheen Taha were captured in Kanthi, located in Bengal's East Midnapore district. A joint operation between central intelligence agencies and the police from Bengal, Karnataka, Telangana, and Kerala led to their arrest. Shazeb is believed to have planted the explosive device inside a backpack at the cafe, while Taha was responsible for planning the attack and evading capture. This marks the second and third arrests in this case, as Muzammil Shareef was taken into custody last month for providing assistance to Shazeb and Taha. The authorities were able to track down Shazeb and Taha in Kanthi after conducting searches at various locations across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. The explosion, which occurred on March 1, resulted in injuries to 10 individuals but, fortunately, no fatalities.

The explosives were placed in a less crowded area and against a large pillar, which helped absorb most of the impact. Surveillance cameras scattered throughout Bengaluru captured images and videos of the individuals accused of the crime. In one such recording, one of the suspects, wearing a face mask, was observed boarding a bus.

To incentivize the public's assistance, the agency offered a reward of ₹ 10 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of each suspect. Furthermore, they interviewed individuals close to the accused, including their friends from school and college. Despite suffering significant damage from the blast, the Rameshwaram Cafe reopened after eight days with upgraded security measures, such as the installation of metal detectors. Raghavendra Rao, co-founder of the cafe, stated, "We have bolstered our security team and are also in the process of establishing a separate group of ex-servicemen who will provide training to our security guards at all of our branches." Previously, the Bengaluru Police had filed a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosives Substances Act in relation to the explosion at the cafe.