Second-hand phone used by man held in Bengaluru cafe blast case leads to BJP worker’s questioning

THE USE of a second-hand mobile phone by a person arrested in connection with a blast at The Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru on March 1 has led to the questioning of a BJP worker from Karnataka, the phone’s original purchaser, sources said.

Sai Prasad, a BJP worker from Shivamogga district, was summoned and questioned this week by the NIA and later allowed to go home.

Investigators said that Prasad was a frequent visitor to a mobile store in Thirthahalli that was operated by Sardar Naveed – a suspect who was searched by the NIA on March 27. The BJP worker sold a mobile phone to Naveed’s mobile store.

The probe found that the mobile phone that was originally purchased by the BJP worker was later used by Muzammil Shareef, 30, the only arrested person in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case so far. “The second hand phone used by the arrested person brought Sai Prasad under the scanner,” police said.

Shareef who worked and lived in Bengaluru is alleged to have provided logistical support, including SIMS and material for making IEDS to the two main missing suspects involved in making and planting an IED at the cafe – Musavir Hussain Shazib, 30, the alleged planter of the device and Abdul Matheen Taha, 30, his close associate.

Technical analysis of phone use led to the IMEI number of the phone of BJP worker, sources said. “The case being a terror incident, any information on the identity of the witnesses may apart from hampering investigation may also put at risk the individuals being summoned,” the NIA said Friday after reports suggested the BJP worker is a suspect.

Earlier, in mid-march the NIA detained a person identified as Syed Shabbir from Ballari on suspicion that he interacted with the main suspect at Ballari on the night of March 1 – around eight hours after the blast. He was later let off after questioning.

The NIA searched 18 locations on March 27 and summoned several people for questioning. Among the places that were searched was the mobile phone store of Naveed, a former friend of the two missing suspects. The arrested suspect Muzammil Shareef who had family connections in Thirthahalli was also reportedly a frequent visitor to the store.

On March 27, following the arrest of Muzammil Shareef, the NIA officially identified the person who carried out the IED blast at The Rameshwaram Cafe which left nine people injured as “Mussavir Hussain Shazib and co-conspirator as Abdul Matheen Taha”, both residents of Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district.