New Delhi, 24 May

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested one more accused in the March 1 Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, the fifth person to be held in the matter.

Thirty-five-year-old Shoaib Ahmed Mirza alias Chhotu, a resident of Hubbali city in Karnataka, was previously convicted in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror conspiracy case, the agency said in a statement.

"Three days after a massive crackdown across four states in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, the NIA on Friday arrested one more accused, identified as an ex-convict in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror conspiracy case," it said.

NIA investigations revealed that Mirza got involved in this fresh conspiracy after being released from jail.

In 2018, he befriended and introduced accused Abdul Matheen Taahaa to an online handler suspected to be abroad, the probe agency said.

Mirza further provided an e-mail ID for encrypted communication between the handler and Abdul Matheen Taahaa, who was arrested on April 12 from his hideout in Kolkata (West Bengal) along with co-accused Mussavir Hussain Shazib, it said.

During the course of its investigation into the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, which took place on took place March 1 this year, the NIA has conducted extensive searches at 29 locations across India.

Further investigations into the role of handler and larger conspiracy behind the blast, which left several injured and caused extensive damage to property, are continuing, the statement added.