Nine people were injured in a low intensity bomb blast at The Rameshwaram Cafe, a popular restaurant in Brookefield in Bengaluru’s Information Technology corridor on Friday afternoon. All the injured are said to be out of danger.
Police said the blast had been caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which seemed to have been left at the restaurant by a customer. The blast occurred during the busy lunch hour, shocking customers and others in the vicinity with a ear-shattering explosion, followed by smoke engulfing the area. The quick-service eatery had over 200 patrons when the blast occurred, sources said.
Also read | The Rameshwaram Cafe: One of Bengaluru’s most popular eateries
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah confirmed that an IED had been used in the blast. Senior police officials said an explosive material, yet to be identified, was packed with nuts and bolts in a bag with a timer device, which has been recovered, sources said. The bag was placed below a hand-washing sink and the IED went off exactly at 12.55.32, as the CCTV footage shows. The footage also shows another explosion, five seconds later. However, police said that a single IED had been planted there.
‘Customer planted bag’
Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, who visited the crime scene, said that a man aged around 30 years came to the restaurant at around 12 noon, took a token, ate a rava idli, and then left the bag with the explosives near the hand wash area. It exploded nearly an hour later. Police are now analysing CCTV footage to identify the accused. “There is no need to panic. Bengaluru is a safe city. Our police are on the job and will crack the case soon,” he assured.
A view of The Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookefield, Bengaluru, where a low-intensity blast occurred at around 1.15 p.m. on March 1, 2024. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
A senior official said that it was a low intensity blast. “Though the bag was packed with projectiles, the kind of injuries victims have suffered indicate that it was a low intensity blast,” he said.
Also read | None among the nine injured serious, say doctors
This is the first IED explosion in the city in nearly a decade. The last such blast in the city, using an IED, occurred on Church Street, in the city’s central business district, on December 28, 2014.
‘Appeasement politics’
The BJP has alleged that the blast was a result of the “appeasement politics” practiced by the Congress government in the State, even as senior police officials said that there were no leads on any group being responsible for the blast as yet. The CM and his Deputy have said that the incident is being thoroughly probed and should not be politicised.
Ruling out earlier speculations of a fire accident, Divya Raghavendra, managing director and founder of The Rameshwaram Cafe, told The Hindu that staff members and customers had said that someone came and left a bag below the hand wash area. Started in 2021, The Rameshwaram Cafe has four branches across the city and is known to be bustling with people.
All injured out of danger
Of the nine injured, Swarnamba Narayanappa, 49, an accountant in an IT firm who had been having lunch at the restaurant, suffered nearly 40% burn injuries and is being treated in an Intensive Care Unit at the Brookefield Hospital. The institute’s medical director Pradeep Kumar said that Ms. Narayanappa was out of danger but will need a plastic surgery. “She has suffered cut injuries on the right side of her body and her eardrum is damaged due to the loud explosion. There are no rip-off injuries, indicating it was a low intensity explosion,” he said.
Initially suspected to be cylinder blast, fire department officials have now dismissed the theory. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
Another woman Nagashree, 35, suffered a corneal injury to her eye and was operated upon at the Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences in Whitefield.
The remaining seven injured have sustained minor injuries and are being treated at these two hospitals, police and doctors said, noting that several of them have suffered damage to their eardrums.
