‘Personal angle’ suspected in Bengaluru blast, security guard may be target

Investigations into an alleged improvised explosive device (IED) blast at a partially occupied, under-construction apartment building in Bengaluru’s Pulakeshinagar on October 20 have pointed to a possible motive of personal vengeance targeting a security guard, police sources said.

The blast seriously injured Suraj Kumar, 28, a painter from Uttar Pradesh, who lost two fingers and suffered facial injuries after attempting to switch on a torch-like device found inside a parcel. The security guard, Alauddin Barbhaij, 53, who had received the parcel a day earlier, sustained a minor injury near his eye.

“The fact that the caller was in possession of the security guard’s phone number and that he insisted on the opening of the parcel suggests a personal angle to the conspiracy to cause the blast,” a police source familiar with the investigation said.

Unidentified caller

Investigators said Barbhaij, who had been working at the building for only 20 days, received the parcel from an unidentified person on October 19. He did not open it because he did not know who it belonged to, police sources said.

CCTV footage from the premises reportedly shows a person approaching the guard and handing over the parcel. The following day, Barbhaij received a call from an unidentified person who allegedly urged him to open the package to check whether any keys had been inadvertently left inside.

Barbhaij opened the parcel on the vacant fifth floor of the building, where he usually slept. It reportedly contained a torch-like device fitted with a switch and some chocolates. Unable to operate the device, he called Kumar, who was working on an upper floor, for assistance.

The explosion occurred when Kumar attempted to switch on the device, causing serious injuries to the painter and minor injuries to the guard.

Possible personal motive under scrutiny

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The police traced the number from which the October 20 call originated to a mobile phone vendor in North Bengaluru.

Preliminary findings suggest that an unidentified person borrowed the vendor’s phone to make the call, purportedly on the pretext of receiving money through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), police sources said.

Investigators are examining how the caller obtained Barbhaij’s phone number and whether the parcel and the subsequent call were part of a planned attempt to target him.

The investigation has also brought Barbhaij’s personal circumstances under scrutiny. Police sources said he was facing a domestic violence case in Assam in which his brother was also accused of rape.

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Barbhaij had reportedly been arrested and remanded to judicial custody in connection with the case. Sources said he was living in Bengaluru with his daughter and son-in-law.

Investigators are examining whether the Assam case is connected to the blast. The possible personal motive remains a preliminary line of inquiry and has not been officially established.

IED findings alert multiple agencies

Preliminary forensic findings indicate that the parcel concealed an IED disguised as a torch.

Police sources said the device contained a small quantity of explosive material, reportedly including gunpowder, nitroglycerin, and nitrocellulose. Ball bearings inside the device allegedly acted as shrapnel, injuring Kumar and damaging nearby windows.

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The apparent sophistication of the device and the suspected familiarity of its makers with IED construction have prompted multiple investigative and anti-terror agencies in Karnataka to examine the evidence.

Although Bengaluru has previously served as a safe haven for extremist groups from India’s Northeast and Bangladesh, there have been no major incidents of violence or terrorism in the city involving groups from the Northeast, according to the background available to investigators.

Investigators have not established any link between such groups and the current blast.

The Bengaluru police have not officially confirmed that an IED caused the explosion.

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“There is nothing to panic about at this stage. The festive season is underway, and we are very alert. We are investigating the incident and are not ruling out anything,” Seemant Kumar Singh, Commissioner, Bengaluru police, said Wednesday.

Investigators are continuing to examine the parcel’s delivery, the caller’s identity, the device’s construction, and the possibility of a targeted attack.