Bengaluru/New Delhi: The Karnataka government has indicated that there is a link between Friday’s low-intensity blast in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram cafe and the November 2023 pressure cooker blast in the coastal city of Mangaluru.
At least ten people were injured Friday when there was an explosion between 12.50 pm and 1 pm at The Rameshwaram Cafe, a popular haunt in the city’s Whitefield area.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar Saturday said investigators had indicated that the incident appears to have links to the Mangaluru pressure cooker blast.
One Mohammed Shariq and the driver of the autorickshaw he was travelling in were injured on 19 November 2023 when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) placed in a pressure cooker he (Shariq) was carrying — allegedly to its intended target area — went off.
“There appears to be a link to the Mangalore blast and this (incident) according to what our police officers (are saying)…the materials found inside…timer and other things…there appears to be a link,” Shivakumar told reporters Saturday in Bengaluru.
“The blast seems to be in a similar way which they (culprits) have used…whatever the equipment they have used…(it) looks the same way, so they (police) are looking at all angles (sic),” he added.
The deputy CM further said that officials who probed the Mangaluru pressure cooker blast have also reached Bengaluru.
He said that it was a ‘low intensity blast and was prepared locally’ and affected a radius of around 8-10 feet.
According to the FIR lodged against unknown persons, seen by ThePrint, there were nuts and bolts stuck to the pillars of the hotel walls, shattered glass, and the tarpaulin outside, breaking the tiled walls.
The police are questioning some people in the case but one official directly involved in the investigation said no one has been arrested so far. The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB), which is leading the probe, has formed at least eight teams to investigate the blast.
According to sources in the intelligence, prima facie, it appears to be the work of the same ISIS module that carried out the IED blast in Shivamogga in September 2022.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Saturday said that a person wearing a cap, a mask, and carrying a bag is suspected to have been the main culprit in the case.
“One person wearing a hat and a mask came in a bus. He then took one rava idli…then sat on one side. After sitting down…he adjusted the timer and left and it exploded (sic),” Siddaramaiah told reporters Saturday.
Photos of the suspect are being circulated on social media along with CCTV footage of the blast itself.
There are pictures of some electronic materials recovered from the blast site, including what appears to be a timer, some wires, and batteries, which is suspected to be the detonator.
A case has been registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and Explosive Substances Act at the HAL police station.
‘Intent to kill’
Siddaramaiah has said that all those injured in the blast are out of danger. He is likely to visit them in the hospital later in the day.
According to the FIR, lodged on a complaint by one of the cafe’s employees, the floor manager (Hariharan) saw the suspect order food, sit near the wash basin and leave back a bag when he left.
The complaint also states that this was a “planned conspiracy with intent to kill” people and target a place with high footfall.
The suspect used nuts and bolts instead of shrapnel in the IED, according to reports, limiting the extent of the damage.
“As regards the Rameshwaram cafe incident, investigation is in full swing. Several teams are working on different leads obtained so far. Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the case and the security concerns, media is appealed not to indulge in speculation and co-operate,” B.Dayananda, the Bengaluru city police commissioner wrote in a post on X.
A source in intelligence said, “It is a terror attack and the investigation is at a preliminary stage. But we suspect the ISIS module that carried out a Shivamogga blast to be behind it. The NIA has arrested the key accused of the module in the past and have also filed chargesheets in the case.”
A senior NIA officer said that in the Shivamogga case too, the accused had conducted a trial IED blast, besides conducting reconnaissance of multiple places and indulging in arson of properties and vehicles to spread terror and fear among the people, as part of an Islamic State (ISIS) conspiracy to carry out incidents of terror and violence in India and wage a war against the country.
Although the NIA has not taken up the investigation in the case yet, a team visited the spot of the blast.
The agency had arrested key Mangaluru blast accused Arafath Ali in September 2023, after he came to India from Nairobi.
According to the NIA, Arafath, a resident of Shivamogga, was actively involved in the “identification, radicalisation and recruitment of gullible Muslim youth into the ISIS fold while working from abroad”.
As part of the Shivamogga terror conspiracy case, one accused, named Mohamed Shariq, had been on his way to plant a pressure cooker IED at Kadri Manjunatha Temple, Mangaluru, when the IED exploded accidentally in the autorickshaw. Arafath Ali had been in active touch with the other accused persons in the case, and was actively involved in the planning and execution of the conspiracy, a senior NIA officer said.
“It is too early to say anything as of now. All angles and possibilities are under probe,” a second source in the NIA said.
Also read: NIA raids 40 locations in Coimbatore & Mangaluru blast probes, seizes digital device
Political war
Principal opposition party the BJP has accused the Congress-led Karnataka government of indulging in “appeasement politics” that led to the latest blast. The Congress, it has alleged, is “emboldening” pro-Pakistan actors.
Deeply troubled to hear about the blast at Rameswaram Cafe in Bangalore. Praying for a swift recovery of all the injured in the incident. State govt should order a detailed enquiry & spare no efforts in apprehending the perpetrators.
Callousness of the State govt in downplaying…
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) March 1, 2024
The BJP also linked the blast to the alleged chants of “Pakistan Zindabad” during the Rajya Sabha elections victory celebrations of Syed Naseer Hussain Tuesday.
“Does it take five days in the Pakistan issue (alleged chants)…isn’t it shameful,” B. Y. Vijayendra, the state BJP president, told reporters.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government has sent voice and video samples to the forensic laboratory to determine if there were indeed chants of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ even though the BJP is claiming that it was already proven.
Siddaramaiah said that the government is yet to receive the report and action will be taken against those involved if the allegations are proved to be true. “Let the BJP leaders continue their criticism, we are concerned about upholding the state’s reputation. Whether the BJP decides to support the investigation or decides to play politics, we will investigate this thoroughly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also put out an X post, urging Siddaramaiah “to stop your ministers from influencing and prejudging the investigation”.
My rqst to @CPBlr & CM @siddaramaiah is to stop ur ministers from influencing & prejudging the investigation by making statements like gas cylinder blast and then business rivalry.
Terror and security are issues that u shdnt allow ur Dy CM or assorted wise men to prejudice and… https://t.co/xj2o4QhIsp
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) March 2, 2024
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also read: Rajya Sabha polls expose fault lines within BJP-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka ahead of Lok Sabha