Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 1: Nine people were injured in a suspected bomb blast in the popular Rameshwaram cafe in Bengaluru’s Whitefield area on Friday afternoon, Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara confirmed. Ruling out a gas leak as the cause, CM Siddaramaiah said the CCTV footage has revealed that a “man was seen keeping a bag in the cafe.” “It is not a high-intensity blast but an improvised one,” he added speaking to the reporters at the site. The injured, including the hotel staff, have been shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Initially it was thought to be gas cylinder blast but the fire department has dismissed it. Fire department officials said they received a call at 1.09 p.m. Initially suspected to be a cylinder blast, fire department officials have now dismissed this.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said an improvised explosive device (IED) is suspected to be behind the blast. According to preliminary information, one person came to café just after noon with a bag that he left behind. The person made a payment to the cashier, obtained a token, ate his breakfast and left behind a bag that reportedly contained the explosive. Police is going through the CCTV recording in the café and questioning the cashier to gather more information.
DG&IGP Alok Mohan, Internal Security Division officials and NIA officials rushed to the spot in the afternoon apart from Bengaluru City police commissioner B. Dayananda and forensic experts. Speaking to the media, Mr Alok Mohan said all the injured were out of danger and there was no threat to anyone’s life.
Of the nine injured, six were shifted to Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) in Whitefield for treatment and the other three to Brookefield Hospital. According to Dr Pradeep Kumar, Medical Director of Brookefield Hospital, two men and one woman are being treated there and all three are out of danger. While no serious injuries are sustained by the men, the woman has suffered 40% burns and will have to undergo plastic surgery.
“We have two customers and a staffer of the cafe admitted with us. One of them, a woman of around 45 years of age, has suffered around 40% burn injuries, mostly on the right side of her body. She’s being treated in an ICU. She has suffered cut injuries on the right side of her body. She will need a plastic surgery. Her eardrum is also damaged due to the explosion sound,” he explained.
Two other injured are being treated in a general ward and have suffered minor injuries. “One of them is suspected to have suffered splinter injuries. We are doing a CT scan to determine the material in the skin. May be glass or some other material,” he added.
When asked what the injuries tell about the nature of the blast, Dr Kumar said it was probably a low intensity explosion as there were no “rip-off injuries” on any of the injured, including the woman. “She has suffered injuries mostly to her right side suggesting the blast occurred to her right. No serious injuries on her left side indicate it was a low-intensity explosion,” he said, adding that they had preserved the clothes the injured were wearing during the explosion. They will be handed over to forensic experts to check for any chemicals on the clothes.
Meanwhile, of the six people (three men and three women) consulted at VIMS, one was treated in the Out Patient Department (OPD) and sent back whereas five others have been admitted, said Dr Ravi Babu, Chief Administrative Officer, VIMS.
“One woman has an eye injury and has been shifted to the Operation Theatre (OT). We suspect it to be a corneal injury. The others have sustained minor injuries including some particles on the back and ear injuries. They are in minor OT and are being observed,” Dr Babu said.
After a team of the anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA), bomb squad, and forensics laboratory reached the cafe, the Chief Minister told reporters that an improvised explosive device (IED) was used in the attack on the cafe.
BJP’s Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya in a post on X said he spoke to the cafe owner about what could have caused the explosion that left nine people injured. “Just spoke to Rameshwaram Cafe founder Sri Nagaraj about the blast in his restaurant. He informed me that the blast occurred because of a bag that was left by a customer and not any cylinder explosion. One of their employees is injured. It seems to be a clear case of bomb blast. Bengaluru demands clear answers from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,” Mr Surya said.
The Home Minister G Parameshwara said the “FSL team has collected samples and the investigations underway. The bomb squad has also visited the place. Also, the city police commissioner and DGP have visited the place. There has been information that IED was kept in a bag, but I will not react till I get information from the police officially,” he said.
“It is very clear that the blast has not happened because of any cylinder or any other kitchen-related equipment as none of it was near the blast site. All our equipment is at the back of the restaurant. There is only a handwash area with a sink, dustbin and a stand to collect plates. Some people told us that someone came and kept a bag there and went and the blast happened after that. We have found a bag that exploded at the spot,” Divya Raghavendra, Managing Director and founder, The Rameshwaram Cafe, said.
“The doctors have told us that they (injured staffers and customers) are out of danger. The police are further investigating the matter and we are providing full support. We’ve already given them access to all the CCTV footage,” she added.
Speaking to media persons near the restaurant, Shabarish, an eye witness said, “There was a loud sound a little after 1 p.m. which must have been audible up to a kilometre away. There was a lot of smoke around the restaurant. When I went and checked, a few customers and employees were injured and bleeding. We sent them to hospital in the ambulance.”
Sachin Lamani, a security guard with The Rameshwaram Cafe at Brookfield said he was just outside the cafe when he heard a loud explosion at around 1:15 pm. As he rushed inside, he saw smoke and fire near the wash basin area, he said. “There was a big explosion-like sound and there was a burnt smell. I don’t know how the blast occurred. I saw many people injured and helped them rush to a hospital,” he said. The cafe was filled with people as it was a Friday and lunch time. “I did not see how the fire occurred. But it was not a cylinder blast or an electric short-circuit as there were no cylinders or any equipment near the wash basin,” he added.