The blast at Rameshwaram Café, a popular eatery in Bengaluru, which injured at least nine, was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), top intelligence sources told News18. Meanwhile, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said that someone had left a bag at the spot and the CCTV footage is being examined.
“An IED was used to cause the low-intensity blast. It has been recovered from the spot. Many suspects are on the radar,” said sources.
The agencies are mainly looking at two angles – terror and business rivalry. “The eatery chain was doing good business. Signals were picked last week that rivals may try to tarnish their image,” said sources.
The CM said: “We have learnt that someone had kept a bag there. We are examining the CCTV footage. We are still investigating. Police is at the spot. It was a low-intensity blast.”
“We received a call about a cylinder blast in Rameshwaram cafe. Immediately, a fire engine was rushed to the spot. The incident occurred between 1.30 and 2 pm. We are probing it from all angles,” a police officer said, earlier in the day.
In the past, Bengaluru has seen several Islamic State (ISIS or IS) modules being neutralised. Bangalore in the past many ISIS operatives were active those were neutralized.
#BengaluruBlast | 9 people have been injured. omeone kept a bag at the Rameshwaram Cafe. Home Minister will visit the blast site: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah@harishupadhya shares more details #Karnataka #RameshwaramCafe #NationAt5 | @poonam_burde pic.twitter.com/zcqAdAccxJ— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 1, 2024
In December 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams swooped on 19 locations spread across Ballari and Bengaluru in Karnataka, Amaravati, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Jamshedpur and Bokaro in Jharkhand, and Delhi.
The eight ISIS agents arrested during the raids were involved in actively promoting terror and related acts and activities of the proscribed organisation, said officials.
They were operating under the leadership of Minaz (alias Md Sulaiman).
The raids also led to the seizure of raw materials for explosives, such as sulphur, potassium nitrate, charcoal, gunpowder, sugar and ethanol, sharp-edged weapons, unaccounted cash, and incriminating documents, along with smartphones and other digital devices.
Comments
0 comment