Following the circulation of pictures and videos of suspects involved in planting a bomb at Rameshwaram Cafe in Whitefield on March 1, a flurry of police vehicles with blaring sirens became a common sight in the lanes of Soppugudde, Thirthahalli, Shivamogga. Thirthahalli, situated in Karnataka’s Malnad region, is typically a tranquil town but has occasionally made headlines for communal tensions.
Background Investigations
In 2018-19, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) visited Thirthahalli, focusing on satellite phone users. Around the same period, two individuals, Mussavir Hussain Shazeb and Abdul Matheen Taha, departed from the town. By the end of 2019, state police identified Taha as one of the suspects associated with an Al Hind-Karnataka module. Presently, both individuals are prime suspects in the cafe blast.
Family Response
Upon the news of the youths’ arrest, their families chose to lock their homes and relocate to undisclosed destinations. Taha’s father, Mansoor Ahmed, a retired ex-serviceman, expressed distress over his son’s alleged involvement in terrorist activities. Having settled in Thirthahalli post-retirement, Ahmed passed away last year after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Shazeb’s father, Mohd Nurullah, was an agriculturist from Kengatte, Koppa, in Chikkamagaluru. Following Nurullah’s demise, his widow moved the family to her father’s residence in Thirthahalli, where her father, Kaimara Babu Saab, was a respected vegetable trader. Shazeb, the third of four siblings, has elder brothers involved in a clothing business and owning a mobile phone store, while his younger brother pursues studies.
Childhood Friends
Shazeb and Taha, described as childhood friends, attended high school together in Thirthahalli. While Taha continued his education locally, Shazeb enrolled in a college in Shivamogga. Though Shazeb discontinued his studies, Taha pursued an engineering degree at a private college in Whitefield, Bengaluru, according to family sources.
