Rameshwaram Cafe blast: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah to chair meeting with top police officials today

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called a meeting of senior police officers on Saturday afternoon in connection with the blast incident that took place at Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru on Friday. At least 10 people were injured in the blast incident, and three of the injured persons are still in hospital.

State Home Minister G Parameshwara confirmed the meeting with the Chief Minister, saying, "We have a meeting at 1 pm, the Chief Minister will lead the meeting, higher police officers will attend the meeting regarding the blast."

The home minister said that the government has constituted teams to investigate the incident and assured that the accused will be arrested soon. "We have constituted several teams. We have collected some evidence from CCTV footage. At the time of the incident, nearly 26 BMTC buses were moving that way. We have information that he came on a bus, we are checking CCTV footage of all those buses," Mr Parameshwara said.

"We will arrest the accused as soon as possible. Our teams are doing great. A timer was used for the blast, FSL team is checking it," he said. He further said that there is no information about the involvement of any particular organisation in the blast so far. "We don't have any information about which organisation has done this," he said.

Mr Parameshwara urged the opposition leaders to refrain from politicising the incident. "They are demanding resignation. In 2022, when the cooker blast incident happened, did they resign?. They keep demanding resignations for everything, we have some responsibilities. I have appealed to opposition party leaders that don't do politics on this issue," the minister said.

Police have registered an FIR under sections 307, 471 of IPC and 16, 18, and section 38 of UA(P)A, and the sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substance Act have also been added in the FIR. Meanwhile, a team of FSL, NSG, the Bomb Disposal Squad and the Dog Squad conducted an investigation at the explosion site on Saturday morning.

Three persons sustained severe injuries have been admitted to Brookefield hospital, police said. Following the incident, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and State Home Minister G Parameshwara, along with DGP Alok Mohan, visited the Bengaluru explosion site for inspection.

A team of National Investigation Agency also visited the explosion site in the Whitefield area. Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda urged the media not to indulge with regard to the explosion. "As regards the Rameshwaram cafe incident, the investigation is in full swing. Several teams are working on different leads obtained so far.

Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the case and the security concerns, the media is appealed not to indulge in speculation and cooperate," a post on Bengaluru CP's official handle X stated. The Rameshwaram Cafe is one of the popular hangouts and is usually extremely crowded during lunch hours.