India's anti-terror agency to investigate Bengaluru cafe blast

NEW DELHI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has asked the country's anti-terror agency National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the recent blast at a popular eatery in the southern city of Bengaluru, state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) said Monday.

The low-intensity blast went off at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru during the lunch hour on Friday, injuring 10 people.

"Ministry of Home Affairs has handed over Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe blast probe to the NIA," the broadcaster said.

Closed-circuit television camera footage accessed by the police in Bengaluru and aired by local television news channels shows a man wearing a face mask, glasses and a cap carrying a bag inside the cafe's premises in the Whitefield locality. Police suspected the man placed the bag near the eatery's handwash area and then left before the blast took place.

Police said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device fitted with a timer.

Bengaluru is India's technology hub.