At least nine people were injured after a blast at a cafe in the capital city of Karnataka on Friday, police said.

The incident was reported at Rameshwaram Café in Whitefield area of the city, they said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ruled out gas leak as the cause of the blaze. He said CCTV footage has revealed that a man was seen keeping a bag in the cafe.

“It is not a high-intensity blast but an improvised one. The injured, including the hotel staff, have been shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment,” he said.

Asked if it was a terrorist act, the chief minister said, “We do not know it yet, but we are looking at al the possible angles.”

Talking to media, T N Shivashankar, Director, Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services department said the explosion at the bustling cafe, located in east Bengaluru, occurred around 1 pm during the busy lunch hour when crowds from nearby offices generally line up.

“At 1.08 pm, the fire department received a call about LPG leakage fire in the cafe. When our officers and teams reached the spot, there was no fire or flame. A bag which was lying behind a woman who was sitting with six other customers at the eatery exploded. It is suspected that the explosion could have been caused due to some object in that bag,” he told a news agency.

Home Minister G Parameshwara visited the site and took stock of the situation.

Mahadevpura MLA Manjula Limbavali met the injured at the hospital and wished them speedy recovery.

Karnataka DGP Alok Mohan and Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayanand said a probe is on into the incident.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said, “Our officers are investigating (the episode). Who has done it and why. Was it a business rivalry? It is being probed. No need to panic.”

 The cafe was founded in 2021 by CA Divya Raghavendra Rao and Raghavendra Rao. The name was chosen as a tribute to late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birthplace. Its other branches are located in Indiranagar, JP Nagar, Brookfield, Rajajinagar and one at Madhapur in Hyderabad.

“We heard a blast and I stepped out to see that the cafe was engulfed with smoke. Some locals and I managed to help around six burn victims and sent them to a nearby hospital. The fire engine arrived only 30 minutes later,” an onlooker said.

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly R Ashok hit out at the Congress-led state government over the incident.

“The bomb blast at Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru is yet another glaring example of the deteriorating law and order situation in Karnataka ever since CM @siddaramaiah led @INCKarnataka Govt came to power in the state.

“Wherever the Congress comes to power, the terrorists and anti-national elements feel emboldened because of its policy of unabashed and unbridled appeasement. The Congress government should first ensure ‘guarantee’ of safety and security to the people of Karnataka,” he posted on ‘X’.