Cafe blast: Police probing different angles including business rivalry, says HM G Parameshwara
Bengaluru, Mar 3: Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Sunday said business rivalry, impending elections and terrorising investors coming to Bengaluru in view of a stable government in the state are some of the angles which the police are working on to crack relating to the blast at a city eatery.
The explosion took place at Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookefield in East Bengaluru on Friday. A man wearing a cap, mask and glasses is the prime suspect in the case and is still untraceable. According to him, eight teams are working to crack the case and they are accompanied by the National Investigation Agency, National Security Group (NSG) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are assisting the teams.
Parameshwara said one of the angles being probed was to see if it was to terrorise Bengaluru in view of the impending elections.
ALSO READ: Will consider handing over blast case to NIA if need arises: CM Siddaramaiah
"Elections are approaching. If any organisation is behind it, or if there are some other motives behind it to terrorise people to make Bengaluru look unsafe...," the Minister added.
"As many investors are coming here in view of a stable government, this might have been done either to stop investors from coming to Bengaluru or due to some other unknown reasons," Parameshwara said.
The Minister said business rivals might have done it out of jealousy. That is one of the angles, which is also being discussed.
He said The Rameshwaram Cafe has 11 units and the owners were planning to set up their 12th unit, for which advance deposit was also paid.
"We will crack it (the case). We will not leave it. However difficult this case may be, our department will bust it," he asserted.
The Minister appealed to people to rely only on the statements issued by him, police and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and not on speculative ones.
To a question related to a pressure cooker blast in Mangaluru on November 19, 2022, Parameshwara said there was similar assemblage of explosives and other equipment as was in the incident in Mangaluru but that comparison doesn't mean the same gang was behind the blast at Rameshwaram Cafe.
"The way the battery and timer have been used seems similar. We have to take it (investigation) forward. We don't know whether the same organisation did it or the same people did it," the Minister said.
He also said it was a low intensity bomb as the explosives used were of low intensity and even the quantity might be less.
If the quantity was more then the intensity would have been higher, he observed.
According to him, there could have been casualties if the bomb had gone off horizontally and not vertically. "I too visited...and saw bolts and nails there. They all went up. If they had gone off horizontally then many people would have got hurt. It could have caused deaths too. Luckily all of them went up...," Parameshwara explained.
Speaking about the suspect, the Minister said police have procured about 40 to 50 CCTV footages.
"There is information that he came by a bus...26 buses passed there around that time. We went through all the 26 buses. We have found the bus in which he travelled. He was wearing a cap, mask and glasses. We are not getting clarity there as well," he said.
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Australia bundled out for 104 as India take 46-run first-innings lead
Perth (PTI): Pacer Jasprit Bumrah completed his 11th five-wicket haul in Tests as Australia were bundled out for 104 at lunch, losing the remaining three wickets in the morning session on Day 2 to give India a handy 46-run first-innings lead in the opening match here on Saturday.
For India, captain Jasprit Bumrah (5/30) was the pick of the bowlers while Mohammed Siraj (2/20) and debutant Harshit Rana (3/48) also chipped in.
It was a abject surrender from Australia, who could add just 37 runs to their overnight score of 67/7, thanks chiefly to tail-ender Mitchell Starc (26), who emerged the highest scorer for his side
Bumrah struck the first blow on Saturday, dismissing keeper-batter Alex Carey (21) off the first ball of his over as the Australian could add just two runs to his overnight score.
India were all out for 150 from 49.4 overs at the stroke of tea on Friday.
Brief Scores:
India: 150 all out in 49.4 overs vs Australia: 104 all out in 51.2 overs (Alex Carey 21, Mitchell Starc 26; Jasprit Bumrah 5/30, Harshit Rana 3/48, Mohammed Siraj 2/20).
