'We'll teach them a lesson': Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe reopens with metal detectors

Exactly a week after Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe was hit by an IED blast that left 10 people hurt, it was reopened for patrons. “The attack has neither shaken us nor the community nurturing the cafe. The attacker may have thought that this would hit the courage of the restaurant, but his assumptions are false. The place will continue to thrive,” said Divya Raghavendra, one of the co-founders of the cafe. 

The café was thrown open to the public on Saturday.

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 said, "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."

In the blast that occurred on March 1, both staff and customers at the cafe sustained injuries but they are all recovering.

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. 

The founders have dismissed the possibility of business rivalry as the cause behind the incident. Rao said that "hoteliers cannot stoop to such a level as their hands feed the people". "Our objective is to take Indian, especially the south Indian platter, to the global level. This (incident) cannot shake the courage of Indian culture, it cannot shake the spirit of the true Indians."