Pay In Cash, Hindu Names, Low-Cost Hideouts: How Bengaluru Cafe Blast Accused Evaded Arrest; CCTV Footage From Kolkata Hotel

At the guest house, they posed as tourists from Karnataka and Maharashtra, using fake Aadhaar cards and names like Vignesh BD and Anmol Kulkarni to conceal their identities. 

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made a significant breakthrough in the Rameswaram Cafe blast case by detaining two key suspects, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa and Mussavir Hussain Shazib. The suspects were apprehended in West Bengal and transported to Bengaluru following their movements being tracked across multiple states. Now new CCTV footage revealed the accused checking into Dream Guest House in Kolkata’s Ekbalpur area under false identities. They stayed at the hotel from March 25 to March 28 before heading to East Midnapore district.

According to reports, the suspects frequently changed locations to avoid arrest, utilizing cash payments to prevent leaving a trace. Hailing from Thirthahalli in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, Shazib planted the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the cafe, while Tahaa orchestrated the attack.

At the guest house, they posed as tourists from Karnataka and Maharashtra, using fake Aadhaar cards and names like Vignesh BD and Anmol Kulkarni to conceal their identities.

Said to be the mastermind behind the Bengaluru cafe blast, Abdul Matheen Taha had also used Hindu names as aliases at various locations for accommodation. Even the wanted poster for the accused noted that “he has been using hindu identity documents, forging names such as Vignesh or other similar forged ID documents”.

#WATCH | West Bengal: CCTV visuals from Dream Guest House in Kolkata, where the two prime suspects of The Rameswaram Cafe blast case stayed from 25th March to 28th March using fake identity.

Both accused have been sent to police custody for 10 days.

(Source: Dream Guest House) pic.twitter.com/TxrCFNkNfr

— ANI (@ANI) April 13, 2024

Shazib had used a fake Aadhaar card of one Yusha Shahnawaz Patel from Maharashtra’s Palghar at the two Kolkata hotels. While Tahaa had used fake names such as Vignesh BD from Karnataka at one hotel and Anmol Kulkarni in another.