Bengaluru cafe blast: NIA teams in north K’taka on suspect’s trail

Bengaluru: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team was in Karnataka’s Bellary city in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast case.

The team reached the city in the early hours of Thursday, and sources said that more than 10 NIA officers in two vehicles were gathering information.

Sources also said that the alleged bomber had travelled to Tumakuru from Bengaluru after carrying out the explosion and from there he had come to Bellary city.

Another NIA team had reached a Tumakuru bus stand where the suspect was said to have been seen.

The sources said that the NIA has got information in Bellary that the accused had boarded a bus moving towards Gokarna city in coastal Karnataka from Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh. It is suspected that the bomber was in Bhatkal town in Uttara Kannada district and may have plans of escaping to a foreign country.

The investigating agencies had earlier tracked many suspected terrorist activities in the coastal town of Bhatkal. It is suspected that the bomber is getting support from the sleeper cells to escape from the country and the NIA has intensified the probe to nab him, according to sources.

The sources also said that the bomber had come to the Sujatha Circle in Bengaluru in the heart of the city and boarded the bus for Tumakuru city. From here he had boarded another bus to Bellary city.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the Bengaluru cafe blast case, on Wednesday released the photo of a man suspected of carrying out the explosion and also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for providing information/ clues about him.

Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara earlier had said that the NIA has got a vital clue in connection with the blast that took place at the Rameshwaram Cafe here on March 1 in the Whitefield area.

Parameshwara further said that the case is being jointly probed by the NIA and the Special Wing of Central Crime Branch of Bengaluru Police.