Eight days after blast, The Rameshwaram Cafe reopens to brisk business
Bengaluru (PTI): Eight days after it was shattered by a blast that left 10 persons injured, The Rameshwaram Cafe in the city started serving its loyal customers once again on Saturday, throwing open the eatery to the public with heightened security measures.
A low intensity blast occurred at the Brookfield outlet of the eatery on March 1, leaving customers and hotel staff injured.
The cafe was reopened on Friday with much fanfare on the occasion of Mahashivratri and enhanced security measures to ensure that no untoward incident occurs in the future. However, it started allowing public from today.
According to the administration, metal detectors have been installed at the entrance of the eatery to screen customers. Staff will screen every customer with handheld detectors before allowing entry. There would be strict vigilance on all customers and staff will look out for any suspicious activity.
On Saturday morning, the co-founder and CEO of The Rameshwaram Cafe, Raghavendra Rao along with his staff sang the National Anthem before welcoming the customers who had to pass through the metal detectors installed at the entrance of the eatery.
Customers were seen lining up inside the cafe placing their orders. By 8 am, the eatery was back to its normal business serving breakfast to its customers as usual.
Rao told reporters, "we have strengthened our security team and are also trying to set up a separate panel involving ex-servicemen who could train our security guards at all our branches."
On Friday, when the Brookfield outlet was reopened, Pujas were held at the eatery, which was adorned with flowers and festive decorations to mark the reopening. Police oversaw security arrangements throughout the day.
Following the March 1 incident, the cafe was cordoned off as part of investigation by the city police.
A cloth merchant from Kaul Bazaar in Ballari and a PFI cadre have been detained by the National Investigation Agency and the Central Crime Branch as part of their joint probe into the blast.
VIDEO | Bengaluru's popular Rameshwaram Cafe, where a blast took place on March 1 injuring 10 people, will reopen today.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
