BENGALURU: It was a timer-based improvised explosive device (IED) with nuts and bolts that hit customers and employees at Rameshwaram Cafe in the city on Friday afternoon, leaving nine people injured, who were rushed to a nearby private hospital.
There was smoke soon after the blast, which further confirmed that it was a low-intensity IED. The composition of the bomb, which is suspected to be ammonium nitrate with or without fuel, perhaps diesel, and an embedded timer device, is being analysed by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). The timer would have vapourised in the blast. The people in the cafe reported being deaf for some time because of the loud sound.
Director General & Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Alok Mohan confirmed that it was an IED blast. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) and National Investigation Agency have been roped in for the blast investigation, he added. The state is on alert following the blast.
According to sources, who didn’t wish to be named, the bomb blast has come as a “shock and surprise” to the police. “The intention behind the blast was not obviously to kill people but to send a message to the government and law enforcers. The timing, on the threshold of Parliament elections, is of importance and should not be taken lightly,” they said. “The investigation will throw up the module behind planting the IED. There have been terror-related arrests in the last two years in the state. That was an indication enough that some covert activity was going on and that all was not okay,” they said.
In July last year, Bengaluru city police, on inputs from the Central agencies, had arrested five alleged terror suspects from RT Nagar. They were allegedly radicalised by the Lashkar-e-Taiba-associated prisoner and accused in the 2008 serial blast case Tadiyandavede Nasir from Kerala. In November 2022, Mohd Shariq, an alleged ISIS-inspired terorrist, was carrying a pressure cooker IED in an autorickshaw when it exploded midway in Mangaluru. The NIA had chargesheeted Shariq and his associate Syed Yasin in the case for planning to plant the IED at Kadri Manjunatha Temple in Mangaluru to create terror among a section of people. In 2020, Shariq was arrested by the Karnataka police for pro-terror graffiti in support of the IS in Mangaluru city along with his associates. He was also named in the Shivamogga IS conspiracy case of 2022, in which so far 10 accused have been arrested.
State govt will go after those responsible: CM
Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government will bring those responsible for the Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast in Bengaluru to book and see that they are punished. “The police are looking into the cafe’s CCTV footage that showed that someone had kept the bag near the cashier. We are yet to conclude that it was an act by terrorists. It is a low intensity improvised explosive,” he said here on Friday. Siddaramaiah said such cases have happened in the past too. “There were blasts in Mangaluru during the BJP tenure. Opposition parties should not politicise the issue and cooperate with the investigation.” He said Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara will visit the spot and decide on the compensation for the injured.
Heard beeping noise before blast, says eyewitness
Bengaluru: Ten people, including customers and staff, were injured in the bomb blast at The Rameshwaram Cafe in Kundalahalli around 1 pm on Friday. Rashid Hussain, a restaurant employee, said, “A woman seated nearest to the washbasin, where the blast occurred, sustained serious burns. We called the ambulance and rushed her to Brookefield Hospital. A software engineer, Dweepanshu, one of the victims residing in the HAL area, said he is a regular customer at the restaurant and often comes twice a day between his working hours as his office is in the vicinity. “I visited like I usually do, but suddenly my colleagues and I heard a beeping noise and in the next few minutes there was a blast followed by smoke all around.” Farooq Hussain, 19, a staff member at the eatery who hails from Assam, also suffered burns on his right hand and is currently being treated at Vyedhi Hospital. “I had been at the cafe since 6 am. I was cleaning when the blast happened,” he said. The CCTV footage shows people having lunch and staff members busy attending to them when the blast occurs. In an instant, thick smoke engulfs the entire area. People flee in all directions, without a clue about the situation. Meanwhile, Governor Thawaarchand Gehlot, BJP state president BY Vijayendra, Assembly Opposition Leader R Ashoka and Union minister Pralhad Joshi visited the victims of the bomb blast, who are undergoing treatment at hospitals. ENS