Did Rameshwaram Cafe blast aim to undermine Brand Bengaluru?

The location of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Bengaluru on March 1 may have well been a carefully chosen target. Kundalahalli in East Bengaluru is one of the tech nerve centres of the IT capital.

Tech parks such as Prestige Technostar, Sattva Knowledge Court, Brigade Tech Gardens, Bagmane Solarium City, and RMZ NXT complex, and firms such as SAP Labs, NTT Data, GE Healthcare, Capgemini, Qualcomm, WNS, and IFB Industries Limited have their offices in the vicinity.

As many as 10 people were injured in the blast. The accused used an IED with a one-hour timer and the blast took place in Rameshwaram Cafe at 12:55 pm during lunch hour. Weekday lunch customers are largely office goers, particularly IT professionals working in neighbouring tech parks. "It’s very likely the accused did a recce of the place before the actual operation. It ticked many boxes – primarily it being a high footfall area and IT hub so it was certain to grab the intended eyeballs," a senior police official told Moneycontrol.

Police are looking into the motive behind the blast – whether it’s a terror act or was caused by business rivalry. “It’s a pre-planned act from the looks of it. The accused would've carried out a recce and if you look at the CCTV footage, he has taken precautions to avoid identification by wearing a cap, glasses, and mask. He travelled by bus (instead of a private vehicle), and paid for Rava idli with cash. A final picture will emerge only once the investigation is completed," he said.

State home minister G Parameshwara told reporters that bolts and nails (splinters/shrapnel) exploded vertically for some reason. It could have been more serious if they had exploded horizontally.

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Home Minister G Parameshwara, and Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda are in discussion.

Parameshwara said police are analysing footage from 40-50 CCTV cameras as well as 26 buses that passed through the road during that period. Police are also investigating whether the accused took multiple buses and changed attire to evade detection.

S T Ramesh, former DGP and IGP of Karnataka police, told Moneycontrol:  "In this case, the accused seems to have taken a series of safety measures to conceal his identity. But there is no such thing as a perfect crime. Given the tools made available by technology today —CCTV, mobile tower, call analysis, and other forensic tools—it's always possible to trace the accused".

Impact on Brand Bengaluru

This incident took place on a day when global names, the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ivanka Trump, were in India. Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Moneycontrol: “Bengaluru is an important city and centre for our digital economy.  A lot of our Prime Minister's vision for the country's ambitions around innovation and the digital economy rests in Bengaluru. So, the law and order in Bengaluru, the safety of all people in Bengaluru is certainly a matter of concern."

Chandrasekhar said: “Bengaluru's reputation as a safe city for investors, expats, and people from around the country who come and work there must not be allowed to be impacted even by a percentage. It must be investigated and the police should be given a free hand to investigate it and bring the people to book" he said.

Karnataka, the hub for major tech firms, contributes  42 percent of India's IT exports. With over 5,500 IT/ITeS companies and around 750 MNCs, it provides direct employment to over 12 lakh professionals and generates over 31 lakh indirect jobs. The state boasts a significant presence in various sectors, including hosting 40 unicorns, 440 GCCs, and 14,000 start-ups, as per state government records. In addition to IT/ITeS, Karnataka holds a substantial position in electronics design (40 percent share), machine tools manufacturing (52 percent), aerospace & defence manufacturing (65 percent), and biotechnology exports (60 percent).

In 2009, Infosys became the first private company in India to get CISF cover for its campus in Electronics City after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.  Later, its Mysuru campus was also covered. In 2010, CISF cover was extended to other companies such as Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Tata Consultancy Services after the Electronics City Industrial Township Authority, which maintains the industrial estate, agreed to bear the expenditure of the CISF deployment.

 Political slugfest over Brand Bengaluru

Taking a swipe at Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's pet 'Brand Bengaluru' campaign aimed at drawing global investors to the city, BJP on Sunday alleged that Congress has turned the tech capital into ‘Bomb Bengaluru’. BJP posted a poster on 'X' which read, "They said 'Brand Bengaluru'. They made it 'Bomb Bengaluru'."

Responding to BJP’s charges, Shivakumar said: “BJP is exploiting the opportunity to gain political mileage. They are tarnishing the image of Bengaluru and Karnataka in the process. They may have forgotten things that happened during their term. I don't want to engage in politics over it, but they should introspect. At times like these, they should be aware of the nation's unity, integrity, and peace.”

Parameshwara said: "Police are also investigating various strands including whether it is a business rivalry, or an act carried out given the impending Lok Sabha polls as well as to scare off investors. We have a stable government in the state so there might be elements who want Bengaluru to appear unsafe.”

 Need to step up safety measures

Experts and citizens urge the government to step up security, especially on tech corridors. Revathy Ashok, CEO of the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), said, "This is a wake-up call for all of us in the city. The government should conduct extensive combing operations to get to the bottom of this. There is enough technology to support this".

She said Intelligence agencies constantly receive a lot of information from multiple sources. "In many instances, while there might have been some clues that all is not well, the failure to connect the dots and prevent an unfortunate incident is sometimes the key problem. Being a high-profile city with significant global linkages, our Intelligence agencies must be on red alert and act with speed and alacrity. Constant communication with citizens to reassure them of safety measures being taken by the government is also critical."

R K Misra, Co-founder of Yulu Bikes, agrees, "Safety and security are ongoing concerns and challenges. There is no foolproof method, but constant vigilance and robust Intelligence gathering by various agencies, along with efficient exchange of Intelligence among various state and national agencies, are of utmost importance."

Ramesh said it's premature to call it an “Intelligence failure”. “It appears, so far, to be a one-man operation, but whether it was a lone wolf operation or if there were other people or group(s) or any organisation behind it, is being looked into."

Some residents said the public should be more vigilant.  Pravir B, a Whitefield resident and frequent commuter to the Rameshwaram Cafe area where the blast happened, said, "We all must stay vigilant in public spaces. Last Sunday, I alerted a young man who was leaving behind a large bag while alighting from the Metro. If we notice anything suspicious, we should immediately call the police.”

Clement Jayakumar, Mahadevapura MLA Task Force member, suggested, "There should be visible policing. Police officers in uniform should be deployed in crowded areas like markets, commercial areas, Metro, etc. Hoysala patrolling vehicles with flashing lights should be deployed in key areas, especially at night".

He said the government should install more cameras in outer zones as part of the Nirbhaya project. "CCTV camera feeds from entrances of IT parks, malls, and high-footfall shops should be integrated to the command centre. Police should also create public awareness through frequent announcements by Hoysala vehicles."

Hotel association to frame SOPs

Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association said they will come up with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enhance the security system at hotels across the city. The blast also cast a shadow on the state government’s recent budget announcement to allow shops and business establishments in the city and 10 other corporations to operate till 1 am. Association president PC Rao said: "We will soon call a stakeholder meeting and come up with an SOP to ensure the safety of restaurant owners, employees, and customers".