It has been over a week since the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two suspects, Abdul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, in the Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast case. Reportedly, NIA is now looking for their handler identified as one “Colonel“. As per the Hindustan Times report, the handler has been in touch with both suspects since their association with the IS Al-Hind module in 2019-20.
Furthermore, Taha has been identified as the planner of the bomb, while Shazib has been identified as the executor of the blast. It is believed that the Colonel is a key figure behind recruiting several young men in South India to carry out terror attacks on religious structures, Hindu leaders and prominent locations. The handler was sending them funding via crypto-wallets.
Speaking to HT, an unnamed senior counterterrorism official said that the agencies learned about Colonel after the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast in November 2022. He said, “We heard about the handler named Colonel after the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast in November 2022. He operates from somewhere in the Middle East, most likely Abu Dhabi.”
Colonel is possibly linked to Pakistan’s ISI
Colonel is most likely linked to Pakistani spy agency (ISI (inter-services intelligence agency). The agency believes that Colonel is possibly helping ISI to revive terror activities in India by setting up small Islamic State (IS) modules. Previously, ISI sponsored terror modules in India and disguised them as IS operatives. Three such terrorists were arrested in Delhi last year in October.
The agency interrogated Taha and Shazib about the Colonel’s online identities, future terror plans, and other members linked to the Shivamogga IS module. Notably, both of them were part of a 20-member Al-Hind module that planned to establish an IS province in the forest areas of South India. The Al-Hind module was led by Mehboob Pasha from Bengaluru and Khaja Moideen from Cuddalore. They were operating from the Al-Hind Trust office in Guruppaanpalya, Bengaluru. They planned to establish IS Daishwilayah within the forest area of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. To learn how to survive in the jungle, they studied how sandalwood smuggler Veerappan operated by reading several books about them.
They planned to target and murder Hindu religious and political leaders, government officials, police officers and VVIPs across India. Following executing their plans, their idea was to retreat to the forest without getting noticed. The plan was mentioned in NIA’s chargesheet against the Al-Hind module submitted in July 2020.
The members of Al-Hind were also given martial arts training. They also participated in anti-CAA-NRC protests in different cities, according to the NIA chargesheet. According to NIA, Pasha was getting instructions from his handler identified as “Bhai”. Investigating agencies are investigating if “Bhai” and “Colonel” are the same person. Another unnamed official told HT, “We suspect this Colonel uses encrypted chat applications to give directions to operatives here in India.”
Furthermore, Colonel’s possible involvement with the little-known Islamic Resistance Council is also being probed. IRC reportedly claimed responsibility for the Mangaluru auto-rickshaw blast. Five months later, Islamic State in Khorasan Province also claimed responsibility for the same blast. Agencies believe it could be happening to divert the attention of the authorities.
Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe Blast
On 1st March, a blast occured at Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru Whitefield. At least 10 persons were injured in the blast. Investigation by the NIA revealed IS-linked terrorists were behind the blast. Both planner and bomber were arrested from Kolkata by the investigating agency with the support of local police.
