Following Sunday's bomb blast, security stepped up for New Year's eve in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Sketches of suspects believed to be behind Sunday's bomb blast on Church Street are emerging from various CCTVs installed on the road. At the moment, they are only for the eyes of investigators. City Police Commissioner MN Reddi confirmed to ET that sketches have been developed. “It is part of the investigation. The sketches will be made public only after critically analyzing their genuineness,“ he said.

Spearheaded by a special investigation team (SIT), the probe is adopting a three-tier structure. “Work has been delegated at three levels in which teams are following leads in Bengaluru, outside the city and beyond the state,“ said Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar, who is heading the SIT.

Owners of shops and establishments on Church Street were relieved when the police removed barricades to allow vehicular movement along the road on Tuesday morning. Even the site of blast, which was cordoned off, was opened. Pedestrians were seen walking on the footpath past the Coconut Grove restaurant, where the low-intensity bomb went off.

Beefing up security for New Year's eve, the police are embarking on an unprecedented degree of surveillance, including use of drones with remote-controlled cameras to monitor the celebrations in and around MG Road. Public would be screened using door frame and handheld metal detectors in these areas. Ten watchtowers near MG Road and four each on Commercial Street and in Indiranagar would keep a vigil on New Year revelers. As many as 75 cameras and policemen with night vision binoculars would keep an eye out, a police press release said.

The Federation of Muslim NGOs has reacted sharply to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju's statement that the role of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) was being probed. “Terrorism has no religion or colour and we condemn the blast that killed one woman. But such presumption invariably gives out directions to the investigators. Such statements are intended to create hatred against Muslims. But why did (Rijiju) pick only Simi and not Sanatan Sanstha, which is also accused of terror attacks?“ Federation convenor Masood Abdul Khader told a press meet.

Probing agencies are looking into the possible involvement of Al Ummah and Indian Mujahideen, besides Simi. Reddi said investigators have not received any information from the public after a `10-lakh reward was announced. The police said informants can contact Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sandeep Patil on 9480801101.