Bengaluru: Denying any intelligence failure in the low intensity bomb blast in Bengaluru which killed a woman and injured three others, the Karnataka government has termed the attack as anti-national. “We need to be alert. We should not panic. It is an anti-national attack. We are taking all precautionary measures,” Karnataka Home Minister KJ George said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the blast site late on Sunday night and met the injured at the hospital. He has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the relatives of the blast victim. He also said that compensation would also be given to the injured but did not specify the quantum.
The CM is scheduled to hold a high level meeting on Monday to probe the blast. “We have to be alert everywhere, we have to be careful. They wanted to create panic, we should be prepared to face them,” KJ George said.
Bengaluru Police chief said that an improvised explosive device was used in the blast. “An explosion was heard on Church Street around 8:30 pm on Sunday. An improvised explosive device (IED) was used in the blast. Due to various circumstances and festivities, there have been threat perceptions in general and we have been on alert,” Bangalore Police Commissioner MN Reddi said.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has assured all help to the state government even as the CM maintained that it is too early to say anything. “Spoke to Karnataka CM Shri S Siddaramaiah regarding the Bangalore blasts. He apprised me of the situation. Centre ready to provide all help,” Rajnath Singh tweeted.
This blast comes during the holiday season, when the country is on high alert. The restaurant is close to the fashionable Brigade Road and MG Road, dotted with bars and restaurants with teeming crowd on weekends.
A team of NIA has been rushed to the state and high alert has been issued in many cities, including Delhi, across India following the blast.
No one as of now has claimed responsibility for the blast.
This is the fourth time the country’s technology hub has been hit by bomb blasts after incidents in 2008, 2010 and 2013. In 2008, in serial blasts at nine places, two persons were killed and 20 others injured in an IED explosion. Two bombs exploded outside the cricket stadium hours before an IPL match, leaving 15 persons injured in 2010. A third bomb was defused.
In 2013, a bomb went off outside the state BJP headquarters in the crowded Malleshwaram area just ahead of the Assembly polls, leaving 16 people injured.
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Bomb Blast in Bengaluru’s Church Street, Two Persons Injured
