Bengaluru Blast: Center has offered help to Karnataka chief minister, says Rajnath Singh

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Monday that the central government has offered help to the Karnataka Government on the Bengaluru blast case.

"I spoke to the Karnataka Chief Minister regarding the low intensity Bengaluru blast and have offered him Central Government's assistance. Our intelligence companies are collecting information from different sources there," Singh said.

"I would like to appeal to the state government that in a big city like Bengaluru, CCTV cameras should be installed at the earliest," he added.

He also said that Union Minister Sadananda Gowda had also visited the blast site and had shared information related to the incident with the central government. "Our intelligence agency is active. If the NIA investigation is required, then the Central Government will order it," he added.

Earlier, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju termed the blast as a terror attack. He said, security needs to be beefed up with a high level of alertness. One woman was killed and three persons were injured when a blast jolted the front of a famous restaurant on a busy road in the heart of Bengaluru city last night. The explosion triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device, IED took place near Coconut Grove restaurant on Church Street in Bengaluru.

The restaurant is close to Brigade Road and MG Road, dotted with bars and restaurants with teeming crowd on weekends. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the woman who was killed in the blast.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the injured at a city hospital in the wee hours, Siddaramaiah said compensation will also be given to the injured, but did not specify the quantum.