NIA Chargesheet Reveals ISIS Planned Attack on BJP Office On the Day of Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday (September 9) filed a chargesheet against four accused in the Rameswaram cafe blast case. The IED blast rocked the restaurant in Bengaluru's Brookfield on March 1, 2024. Nine people were injured in it. In a major disclosure, the NIA claimed that the initial target of the module for the terror attack was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) head office in Karnataka on January 22, 2024.

The Jagannath Bhavan in Bengaluru's Malleswaram was the day Ram Lalla's consecration took place in Ayodhya. Celebrations took place at the temple and the BJP office. However, the NIA said the attack failed and later they recovered and targeted the Rameswaram cafe on March 1.

The accused have been identified as Musavir Hussain Shajib, the alleged attacker at the cafe, and his close associate Abdul Mathin Ahmed Taha, both residents of Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district. They were also accused in the Islamic State (IS)-)-inspired the Al-Hind terror module case and were on the run from security agencies for years until they were arrested near Kolkata on April 12, 2024.

The two youths they radicalised in Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts - Maaz Munir Ahmed and Muzammil Sharif - were also allegedly involved in the terror conspiracy. A chargesheet was filed in the case. They have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and various other laws.

The two men, hailing from Shivamogga district of Karnataka, were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to migrate to ISIS areas in Syria. They were actively involved in radicalising other naïve Muslim youths to the ISIS ideology and Maaz Munir Ahmed and Muzammil Sharif were among such youths, the NIA said in a press statement on Monday.