Rameshwaram cafe blast: NIA releases footage showing suspect, seeks public help

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday released another video of the suspect linked to the Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe blast case.
The agency has sought the help of the public in ascertaining his identity. In one of the new footage, the suspect is seen wearing a t-shirt, facemask, and carrying a bag.
In another, he is seen boarding a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus.
The NIA has sought citizens with relevant information to call them on their numbers – 08029510900, 8904241100 or email to [email protected].
The NIA which is examining the CCTV footage that suggests the suspect bomber may have changed clothes and boarded a bus to Tumakuru in Karnataka after placing the improvised explosive device (IED) at Rameshwaram Cafe.
According to people people familiar with the matter, the bomber used multiple public buses to reach the cafe on the morning of the incident.
On Thursday, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said the prime suspect changed his clothes after the incident and travelled by bus. He said the suspect travelled towards the district headquarters town of Tumakuru by a bus after the explosion and sleuths are verifying his movement till Ballari.
“We have got more important leads, as to the direction in which he (suspect) has gone and him having changed his clothes. Some information cannot be revealed. We have got good leads in the last couple of days. I feel that he will be nabbed at the earliest,” Parameshwara told reporters. “It is known that he has traveled by bus, based on those leads officials are following up. They have got important leads.”
A cloth merchant from Kaul Bazaar in Ballari has been detained by the National Investigation Agency and Central Crime Branch in their joint investigation of the blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe, PTI reported on Friday, citing sources. The teams suspect that the merchant, who was an active member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), was part of the plot.
On March 1, a low-intensity IED blast was reported in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram cafe, injuring at least 10 people. CCTV footage in the cafe showed that a man walked into the cafe and set down a bag carrying explosives nearby, which had a timer set for an hour.