An improvised explosive device (IED) kept under the seat of a motorbike blew up near the Karnataka BJP headquarters in Malleswaram here on Wednesday, after it was remotely triggered.
M N Parthasarathy, whose house was badly damaged in the blast, said: “I was on the ground floor and heard a huge sound. The window panes, mud idols and pots were pulverised. I came out to see people running helter-skelter. Due to the blast, a car parked next to the motorbike caught fire. Its petrol tank exploded causing another blast and the car and other vehicles were gutted.”
“My wife Indira who was in the kitchen on the first floor was injured as a piece of glass hit her. Later, I took her to a hospital,” he said.
Vijayendra, owner of Lakshmi Narasimha Enterprises, a saree shop near where the motorbike was parked, said: “I opened the shop at 9.30 am. When I came to the shop the motorbike was already parked in front of the shop. I have no idea when it was parked there.”
DG & IGP Lalrokhuma Pachuau visited the spot and said all the injured were out of danger. “The spot is close to the state BJP office and to the historical Kadumallashwara Temple. As of now, we can’t jump to conclusions about the motive. Parallel investigations are being made by various agencies,” he said.
Bangalore City Police Commissioner Raghavendar H Auradkar said Union Home Secretary R K Singh had spoken to him. “He has sought a detailed report, which will be sent at the earliest. He is sending a Central Forensic Science Laboratory team to help us collect evidence,” Auradkar said.
The police chief said the central intelligence agencies had issued a general alert in view of the Assembly polls, but there had been no specific tip-offs about a terror attack in Bangalore.