Watch: CCTV footage shows Rameshwaram Cafe blast suspect, hours before explosion

Earlier in the morning, a forensic team was at the site of the blast for investigation. Nine persons suffered injuries in the blast which was marked by a loud sound, fire and smoke but was restricted to the area where the bag was placed. A 45-year-old woman suffered nearly 40 per cent injuries and is in ICU while others suffered minor injuries and shock.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who visited the blast site in the evening, said the police have been given a free hand to apprehend the suspect. “The accused had come for lunch at the restaurant. He had traveled by bus. He had placed a bag containing low-intensity explosives near a tree. He had timed the bomb and around 1 pm the explosion took place. …The entire episode including the facial features of the suspect has been recorded in the camera,” he told reporters.

Preliminary probe has revealed that an IED with a bulb filament that was heated to act as a detonator – after being triggered by a digital timer — in a low-intensity device contained in a steel tiffin box. Police sources said that there are many similarities between the device used at the Rameshwaram Cafe and devices linked to the IS module involved in the Mangaluru explosion.

The Bengaluru city police, in a press statement, had said that the HAL jurisdiction police have registered a case under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 and Explosives Substances Act, suggesting that the blast is being treated as a terrorist incident. A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from the agency’s Bengaluru office had also reached the spot soon after the blast. They are likely to take over the case next week, sources said.

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