A week after a low intensity blast at the Brookfield outlet of The Rameshwaram Café left 10 people injured, the popular eatery was reopened on Friday, with much fanfare and tightened security measures to ensure that no untoward incident occurs in the future.
The café was reopened at 6 pm today but it will be thrown open to the public from Saturday.
According to the administration, metal detectors have been installed at the entrance of the eatery to screen customers. Staff will screen every customer with handheld detectors before allowing entry. There would be strict vigilance on all customers and staff will look out for any suspicious activity.
Raghavendra Rao, co-founder and CEO of The Rameshwaram Café told PTI videos, "Whatever incident happened...it should have not happened...This is a lesson for us to be strong. In fact, no matter what, no one can stop us.
"They wanted to teach us a lesson but we will teach them a lesson. With blessings of Lord Shiva, we have reopened our cafe on occasion of Mahashivratri. We will be reopening the outlet for customers tomorrow with a national anthem."
Pujas were held this morning at the eatery, which was adorned with flowers and festive decorations to mark the reopening. Police oversaw security arrangements throughout the day.
In the blast that occurred on March 1, both staff and customers at the cafe sustained injuries but they are all recovering. Following the incident, the cafe was cordoned off as part of investigation by the city police.
Meanwhile, a cloth merchant from Kaul Bazaar in Ballari and a PFI cadre have been detained by the National Investigation Agency and Central Crime Branch in their joint investigation of the March 1 blast.
The investigating authorities suspect that the detainee, who was allegedly an active member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), took part in the plot, sources said.
