The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Central Crime Branch (CCB) detained two persons including a cloth merchant from Kaul Bazaar in Ballari district in Karnataka and a cadre of Popular Front of India as part of their joint investigation into the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru on March 1, said PTI, quoting sources on Friday. The team is probing the potential involvement of one of the detained individuals, an active member affiliated with the banned PFI, in the recent bombing incident.
Sources indicate that the suspect maintained close ties with some terrorist organisations. They also suggested that the PFI operative may have indoctrinated several individuals, including the individual responsible for planting the explosive device. On March 1, a man entered the cafe and left behind a bag containing an improvised explosive device (IED) set to detonate an hour later. The blast which took place an hour later injured 10 people.
The NIA has also offered a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to the suspect's arrest. The suspect's image as captured by CCTV was also widely circulated. The investigation revealed that the suspect traveled through several cities, altering his appearance to evade detection. The teams found that the man who planted the bomb at the food joint in Brookefield travelled from Bengaluru to Tumakuru, Ballari, Bidar and then Bhatkal, sources said.
Meanwhile, after being closed following the incident, the Rameshwaram Cafe reopened its doors to the public on Saturday. Raghavendra Rao, Co-founder of Rameshwaram Cafe said, "We are taking all the security measures to avoid such incidents in the future...we are strengthening our security team, we are also trying to have a panel of ex-servicemen to train our security guards."
The visitors are also let into the cafe after frisking at the entry point.
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