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Rameshwaram cafe blast: NIA announces ₹10 lakh for tip on bomber, releases pic
Rameshwaram cafe blast accused as seen in NIA's wanted poster wears glasses and a cap. NIA said the informer's identity will be kept secret.
The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday announced a ₹10 lakh cash reward for any information on the man who planted the low-intensity IED in the Rameshwaram cafe leading to a blast on March 1 injuring at least 10 people who were there in the cafe. The NIA released a sketch of the accused in the 'wanted' poster and said the identity of the informer will be kept secret.
No arrest has been made yet in the blast case so far while the manhunt is on both by the Central Crime Branch and the NIA. The NIA began its probe on Tuesday after the Union home ministry directed it to take up the investigation as the Karnataka government did not hand over the probe to the central agency.
Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said the city police found vital clues and inching closer to cracking the case.
Following the blast which sent shockwaves to the city, the cafe was closed and will only reopen on March 8.
On March 1, when there was the lunch hour rush in the popular cafe, an explosion took place injuring 10 though the injuries were not serious. Piecing together CCTV footage, the sleuths found out that a man who came an hour before to the cafe and stayed inside the cafe only for a few minutes left behind the bag that had the IED with a timer. The man ordered a plate of rava idli but did not have it.
Based on this footage, a grainy photo of the suspected accused went viral. The NIA 'wanted' notice on Wednesday confirmed that the man from the viral photo is being zeroed in on as the suspect.
The suspect is a tall man of a slim build and his age can be between 30 to 40 years. In the earlier photos obtained from CCTV inside the cafe, he was seen with a mask but in the photo released by the NIA on Wednesday, his face is more revealed.
Amid the investigation into the case, reports on Tuesday claimed that Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy chief minister Dk Shivakumar, and state home minister G Parameshwara received threats via emails. Siddaramaiah however denied the reports.
