A blast at an under-construction building in east Bengaluru injured two workers on October 20, with preliminary police investigations indicating that a torch-like parcel may have contained an improvised explosive device. Bengaluru Police have not formally confirmed the finding and are awaiting the results of a forensic examination.
The incident took place at a seven-storey construction site in Pulakeshinagar. The two injured workers were identified as Suraj Kumar, 28, a painter from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, and Alauddin Barbhaij, 53, a security guard from Dimapur in Assam. Kumar suffered the more serious injuries, including the loss of two fingers, severe burns and shrapnel wounds to his face, head and chest. Barbhaij sustained a minor injury near his eye.
According to police sources cited by The Indian Express, Barbhaij received a parcel at the ground floor of the site on the afternoon of October 20. CCTV footage reportedly showed the parcel being delivered by an unidentified person before it was picked up by the security guard. The sources said Barbhaij contacted Kumar, who was working on the seventh floor, for help in activating what appeared to be a torch.
The guard allegedly carried the torch to the fifth floor, where it exploded when Kumar attempted to switch it on. Abhi Kumar, Suraj’s 18-year-old brother, said the workers had been at the building for only two days and did not know anyone there personally. He said Suraj was found bleeding after the incident and was taken to hospital immediately.
Police sources described the suspected device as a converted torch containing a small quantity of explosive material, along with ball bearings that may have caused the shrapnel injuries and damage to nearby windows. They said the torch was destroyed in the blast. The sources also indicated that the device may have been designed to target an individual rather than cause a wider attack. That assessment has not been publicly confirmed by the police.
The account remains under investigation. The police began questioning Barbhaij on Wednesday after he was discharged from Minto Eye Hospital, where he received treatment for a cut near his eye. Sources said he had given contradictory versions of the incident, although no official conclusion on his role has been announced.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar said the police were waiting for the final forensic results to establish the nature of the device. He said authorities were investigating the incident and were not ruling out any possibility, while adding that there was no need for panic at that stage.
Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge also said that material recovered from the site had been sent for forensic examination. The forensic report is expected to determine whether the object was an improvised explosive device and clarify the composition of the material recovered from the blast site. Until that examination is complete, the IED claim remains preliminary rather than an officially established fact.
