NIA detains software techie from Rayadurg for Bengaluru blast
ANANTAPUR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained a software engineer from Rayadurg in this district after conducting raids on his house in the early hours of Tuesday.
This was in connection with an IED explosion at the Rameswaram café on ITPL Road, Brookefield in Bengaluru, Karnataka on March 1.
The NIA team from Bengaluru raided the residence of retired teacher Abdul of Nagulabavi Veedi in Rayadurg town and detained his son Sohel, 33. He works as engineer in a software company in Bengaluru. Sohel has been on ‘work from home’ for the past three months.
The NIA team questioned the retired teacher and his son as also the other family members. The central agency held the raid after huge money was found to have been transferred into Sohel’s account from a suspicious source.
The retired teacher has two sons. The second one, Matheem, did business locally at Rayadurg.
The NIA team took the software engineer to Rayadurg town police station after seizing his mobile phone and laptop. They questioned him over his likely links with terrorist outfits. He was subsequently taken to Bengaluru.
The NIA confirmed that it was carrying out searches across different states in relation to the blast. Its teams so far searched 11 locations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The premises linked to 11 suspects in the case have been raided after the March 1 blast that left many customers and hotel staff injured.
According to NIA the 11 suspects whose premises were searched on Tuesday include individuals convicted in the 2012 LeT Conspiracy case of Bengaluru and Hubli districts. Various digital devices and documents were seized.
NIA took over the case from Karnataka Police on March 3 and arrested two accused -- Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Abdul Matheen Taha -- from their hideout in Kolkata on April 12. The duo, both residents of Thirthahalli, Shivamogga district, was identified as the perpetrator and the mastermind, respectively, of the attack.