Under the shadow of the state Assembly elections, terror revisited Bangalore on Monday, exactly three years after twin blasts went off outside the M Chinnaswamy stadium in the city on April 17, 2010.
An improvised explosive device (IED) kept under the seat of a motorbike blew up after being remotely triggered, just 100 metres from Jagannath Bhavan, the state BJP headquarters in Malleswaram around 10.30 am.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the blast that injured 15 people including 11 policemen from the 4th KSRP battalion.
Tension gripped the city following the blasts and a red alert was sounded at all installations. The blast was so intense that the motorbike split into pieces. Its mangled remains were thrown 500 metres from the blast spot. FSL experts and civil defence volunteers collected parts scattered all over the area till evening. The quiet, tree-lined road turned chaotic with burning vehicles, mangled metal and shattered window panes.
Initially, there was confusion on whether it was a cylinder blast, but the police confirmed that it was a bomb blast using high-intensity explosive.
DG & IGP Lalrokhuma Pachuau visited the spot and said that all the injured were out of danger. “The spot is close to the state BJP office and to the historical Kadumalleshwara Temple. As of now, we cannot jump into conclusions about the motive behind the blast. Parallel investigations are being made by various agencies,” he said.
City Police Commissioner Raghavendra 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 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.
The entire area was cordoned off by the police and CISF, CRPF and city police were deployed at the spot.
A rumour was also circulated that there was one more blast at Hebbal, but the police denied it. Fire force, bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs and forensic experts rushed to the spot. The anti-sabotage squad confirmed that no other explosives were planted elsewhere.
About 10 houses around the spot were damaged, along with a KSRP bus, two cars and three two-wheelers.
Police said the explosive was placed inside a compartment beneath the seat of a Suzuki Samurai motorbike bearing registration number TN-22-R-3769. The number led the Karnataka police to the house of a techie in Chennai, whose father said his son used to own a Yamaha, which he sold five years ago.