The probe into the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast intensified with various teams working on different clues found at the blast site. The masked man, is seen ordering a plate of rava idli, placing a tiffin box inside a larger bag and leaving it at the spot where customers wash their hands, before heading out of the restaurant, walking towards a bus stop at the Kundanahalli Junction that the bomber may have used. All buses using that route are being checked, sources said. The bombs were set off a half hour after the suspect left the restaurant, police said.

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City Police Commissioner B. Dayanand in his X account meanwhile called for caution, while posting that " a number of teams are working on the different types of  evidence collected so far from the scene of the offence. In view of the sensitivity of the case, the media must maintain utmost restraint and co-operate with the investigative agencies to reach the culprits."

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Of the nine people who sustained injuries in the incident, one of them, a 45 year old woman who suffered 40 per cent burns is said to be serious and is in ICU. A tight security cover has been put in place at the private Brookfield hospital and other hospices where the nine injured are being treated for injuries suffered in the IED blast.

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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who arrived in Bengaluru on Saturday, inspected the scene of the blast alongside senior police officers, and also visited the hospital to meet the victims. He said that the probe into the IED blast had intensified and the work of identifying the suspect had been stepped up.

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“An investigation is on to find out if there is any similarity between the Mangaluru Cooker Blast and the Rameshwaram Cafe blast,” Siddaramaiah said. Police sources have indicated that the IED used in the Rameshwaram café blast had a bulb filament that heats up and acts as the detonator that bore startling similarities to the device used by the alleged Islamic State -Khorasan module in the Mangaluru blast.

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The chief minister however cautioned: “None must politicise such incidents.  A probe will reveal whether it was an act of terrorism or not.”

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High-level meeting

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The CM held  a high-level meeting with the top brass of the police department to take stock of the incident.  He asked the cops to focus on the technology used in this incident and step up security cover across the city in public places. The investigation must be impartial without succumbing to any pressure including social media, he reportedly said.

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“Stern action must be taken against persons who are spreading wrong news in social media. Truth must come out and those responsible for this incident must be punished. Precaution must be taken to avoid such incidents in the future. The police intelligence wing must become more alert and no sympathy must be shown to anti-national forces,” the chief minister said.

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With the footage of the unidentified man wearing the cap and the mask going viral, cops were tracking CCTVs along the crowded street, packed with offices and eateries to track his entry and exit. According to Deputy Chief Minister, D. K Shivakumar, the unidentified person may be around 28-30 years old.

Blame Game

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The IED blast has ignited a blame game between the ruling party and the opposition, with Union Minister  Pralhad Joshi, who met the injured persons in hospitals, taking pot shots at the Congress, telling reporters that the blast would not have happened if the state government had taken the pro-Pakistan sloganeering after the Congress won the Rajya Sabha polls, more seriously.   Accusing the Congress for its  “ excessive appeasement of the minority community”, he claimed this was the main reason behind such incidents. The state government must hand over the investigation to the NIA to flush out all those who were behind this incident, he also said.

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Flash

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The Bengaluru city police announced that the HAL jurisdiction police have registered a case under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 and Explosives Substances Act, indicating that the blast is primarily being treated as a terrorist incident and not as a case of professional rivalry as is being widely speculated. A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from the agency’s Bengaluru office had arrived at the spot soon after the blast and are poised to take over the case next week.