Changing names, paying in cash: This is how Bengaluru Cafe blast masterminds escaped police

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made a significant discovery in the Bengaluru Rameswaram Cafe blast case, an investigation spanning over 40 days.

The two key suspects in the case were detained after their movements were traced throughout the nation. The suspects, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, were detained in West Bengal and brought down to Bengaluru on April 12.

Investigators got CCTV video showing the accused checking into Dream Guest House in Kolkata's Ekbalpur district. They checked in at the hotel on March 25 and checked out on March 28, using false names. According to sources, this occurred prior to their arrival in the East Midnapore region.

The accused reportedly changed their addresses after they left Karnataka to escape arrest by law enforcement agencies. They lived in multiple small guest houses and hotels before being detained. They even used cash to make payments in most of these places to avoid leaving an electronic footprint of their identities and movements. 

The officials had conducted search operations at 18 locations across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh before finding the accused actually in Kanthi, a small city 180 km away from Kolkata.

"The accused had been staying in a lodge in Bengal," officials told NDTV.

The NIA booked Shazib and Taahaa on March 1 for their claimed participation in the bombing at the Rameswaram Cafe on ITPL Road in Brookefield, Bengaluru. The blast injured ten persons.

Officials said that Shazib had placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the cafe, while Taahaa is suspected to be the mastermind behind the attack.

The NIA took over the probe on March 3 and offered a reward of ₹10 lakh for any information that would lead to the arrest of the two suspects.