The teams suspect that the detenu, who was an active member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), was part of the plot.
A cloth merchant from Kaul Bazaar in Ballari has been detained by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Karnataka police in connection with the 1 March blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru, sources said on Friday, 8 March.
The teams suspect that the man, an active member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), was part of the plot.
Meanwhile, the investigation teams found that the man who planted the bomb at the food joint on 1 March travelled from Bengaluru to Tumakuru, Ballari, Bidar and then Bhatkal, sources said.
#Bengaluru, Mar 8 (PTI) :
A cloth merchant from Kaul Bazaar in Ballari has been detained by the National Investigation Agency and Central Crime Branch in their joint investigation of the March 1 blast at the #RameshwaramCafe, sources said on Friday.The teams suspect that the… pic.twitter.com/Dj4dGiYvpt
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) March 8, 2024
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Tuesday, 5 March, that investigators had got certain “good leads” regarding the suspect.
He said that the prime suspect changed his clothes after the incident, and travelled by bus.
He said the suspect is said to have travelled towards the district headquarters of Tumakuru by bus after the explosion, and officials are following the leads and verifying his movement till Ballari.
Investigation into the blast, caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), at the quick-service eatery in Brookfield area in the information technology corridor in east Bengaluru that left 10 people injured, is being carried out by the NIA, assisted by the CCB.
“We have got more important leads, as to the direction in which he (suspect) has gone and him having changed his clothes. Some information cannot be revealed. We have got good leads in the last couple of days. I feel that he will be nabbed at the earliest,” Parameshwara had told reporters.
“It is known that he has travelled by bus, based on those leads officials are following up. They have got important leads,” he said, adding that there were leads establishing that the suspect travelled towards Tumakuru by bus and officials were investigating it.
“Officials have checked the footage, they have got certain leads. They are verifying from here till Ballari,” he added.
Meanwhile, new video footage of the suspect with a backpack, wearing a full-sleeved shirt, cap, facemask, and spectacles moving in the bus has surfaced. From the video, it seems that the suspect, after noticing the camera in the bus, moved in a direction where it did not cover him.
The NIA has announced a cash reward of ₹10 lakh for information about the bomber.
(With PTI inputs)