Rameshwaram cafe blast: India’s home ministry hands over case to anti-terror agency NIA
Rameshwaram Cafe where a fire broke out after a suspected cylinder explosion in Bengaluru
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handed over the Bengaluru eatery blast case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday (Mar 3). The IED explosion hadrocked the Rameshwaram Cafe on Friday (Mar 1). At least 10 people got injured in the blast.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a specialised counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in India.
Chief Minister of Karnataka state Siddaramaiah earlier held a meeting with all senior officials of the state and directed them to conduct a fair investigation.
As per MHA’s orders, the NIA will take up the case starting Monday (Mar 4).
According to the CCTV footage, the suspect has been identified as a 28/30-year-old man, who came to the cafe during lunchtime and left the restaurant after ordering a Rava idli for himself. However, he left behind a bag that carried an IED.
The man is seen in the CCTV footage where his face and head are covered with a mask and a cap.
Statement by Rameshwaram Cafe’s owner
Co-founder and CEO of the Rameshwaram Cafe, Raghavendra Rao, earlier said that both the Central government and state government should ensure such incidents don’t happen in the future.
He also dismissed the business rivalry angle by saying no one in the business cycle would dare do such a harmful act.
BJP slams Congress govt in state
The incident came as electoral fuel for the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party, which accused the Congress govt of hiding important facts about the blast.
On Sunday, leader of Opposition R Ashoka said, “The Congress government is only trying to hide facts in the Rameshwaram cafe incident. The government did not reveal even a single piece of information about the culprits. They are trying to change the FSL report. This happened also in the incident where ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised in Vidhana Soudha.”
(With inputs from agencies)