Bengaluru cafe blast: Suspect's trail found in Tumakuru, says Home Minister Parameshwara

Bengaluru: Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday said that the investigators probing the IED blast at the city's Rameshwaram cafe found leads suggesting that the suspected bomber travelled in the bus towards Tumakuru and changed his clothes post the incident.

"There are leads that the suspect has travelled towards here in a bus," the Home Minister told reporters in Tumakuru. "The investigators have checked the footage and found a few leads. They are verifying the trail from Tumakuru to Ballari."

Earlier in the day, at his Sadashivanagar residence, the Home Minister said, "After the incident, there are credible leads that the suspect changed his clothes and travelled on the bus. All the case details cannot be revealed now. Very soon, the suspect will be caught."

Fresh CCTV footage accessed by DH showed the suspect wearing a beige cap, a black backpack, a full-sleeved shirt, dark trousers, shoes, a facemask and spectacles moving around in a BMTC bus at 11.43 am, over an hour before the explosion. The footage showed the suspect boarding the bus at 11.42 am, moving around briefly before glancing at the CCTV camera and walking away. An unverified photograph of the "suspect" wearing a T-shirt and without a face mask and sitting on a bus also did the rounds on social and electronic media.

A wanted poster with a reward of Rs 10 lakh for the suspect's information was released by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday. While the Central agency took over the investigation on Monday, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru police, which initially probed the blast, is assisting them. So far, no arrests have been made.

The IED blast occurred on March 1 at the popular eatery in Whitefield’s Brookefield area, injuring 10 people, as per the police. CCTV footage showed the explosion occurred at 12.55 pm.