Pakistani connection to Bengaluru cafe blast! NIA searching for online handler ‘Colonel’

Rameshwaram Cafe Blast Case: A week after the arrest of two suspects in last month’s Bengaluru cafe blast case, Indian agencies are trying to identify their elusive online handler. Officers associated with the investigation said that the codename of that handler is “Colonel”.

Authorities suspect that the “Colonel” was in touch with alleged key planner Abdul Mathin Taha and alleged attacker Musawir Hussain Shazib after his association with the IS al-Hind module in 2019-20.

“Colonel” instigates youth by sending money

It is believed that the “Colonel” sends money through crypto-wallets to many youth in South India. Apart from this, he also continuously instigates the youth to attack religious structures, Hindu leaders and prominent places.

Working secretly in a country in the Middle East

According to the report of Hindustan Times, an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and a member of the investigation team of this case, on the condition of anonymity, said that after the Mangaluru auto rickshaw blast in November 2022, we have arrested the handler named Colonel. Had heard about. He works from somewhere in the Middle East. Probably he is in Abu Dhabi.

There may also be a connection with Pakistani agency ISI

Indian investigative agencies are not ruling out the cooperation of the “Colonel” with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI in reviving the terrorist activities of the Islamic State (IS) group by creating small modules. ISI has in the past also sponsored terrorist modules in India in the form of IS operatives. This was revealed by the arrest of three ISI-sponsored IS module members in Delhi in October 2023.

Both the arrested accused are being interrogated

The National Investigation Agency had arrested Taha and Shajib from Kolkata on April 12 for their alleged involvement in the Rameshwaram cafe blast on March 1. 9 people were injured in this blast. Now both of them are being interrogated about the “Colonel”, his online identity, future terror plans and other members of the Shivamogga IS module.

Are “brother” and “colonel” the same handler?

According to the NIA charge sheet, Taha and Shajib were earlier part of the 20-member Al-Hind module, which had planned to establish IS province in the jungles of South India. On the other hand, according to the NIA chargesheet, Pasha was getting instructions from an online handler named “Bhai”. The agencies are now investigating whether the “brother” and the “colonel” are the same handler and whether he was associated with Taha and Shajib during their Al-Hind days.

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