Following the trail of the suspected bomber at The Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru on March 1, National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams have now reached Kalaburagi on Saturday. NIA has now got a clear lead that the suspect boarded a KSRTC non-AC sleeper bus to Kalaburagi from Ballari on the night of March 1. Earlier, it was said that the suspect may have left to Bhatkal from Ballari.
Meanwhile, the NIA has released new images of the suspect — more CCTV grabs from the night of March 1. However, the agency has not revealed where these CCTV grabs were from. “NIA seeks citizen cooperation in identifying the suspect linked to the The Rameshwaram Cafe blast. Call 08029510900, 8904241100 or email to info.blr.nia@gov.in with any information. Your identity will remain confidential,” NIA posted on social media platform X on Saturday.
The last known location of the suspect was Ballari where he got down a KSRTC bus on the night of March 1, prompting the NIA to probe his possible links to the Islamic State (IS)-inspired terror module the agency unearthed in December 2023 in Ballari. NIA has taken custody of four suspects in the case and is interrogating them.
However, NIA officials have now noticed that the suspect had then boarded a non-AC sleeper bus going to Kalaburagi on the same night at 10.15 pm. Even as they have collected CCTV footage from the bus station and railway station in Kalaburagi, NIA sleuths also got primary information from the conductor and driver of the bus on which the suspect had travelled. The bus crew informed NIA officers that two passengers who had not reserved tickets travelled in the bus (KA32 F1885) on the night.
Sources in the agencies said that there was no breakthrough in the case so far.
