The bomb blast at Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru sent shockwaves throughout the city, raising concerns about security and law and order. While dozens of IT professionals spent their lunch hour inside the cafe not knowing what was to come next, one techie narrowly escaped the blast, all thanks to a phone call from his mother.

Software engineer Kumar Alankrit, 24,  who is a native of Bihar, ended up having a close shave with death during the IED blast at the popular Bengaluru cafe, which was reported at 1pm on Friday.

Kumar Alankrit, who initially thought that the blast was from a gas cylinder explosion, was midway through his lunch when his mother called him. While he stepped out of the cafe to take the call, he heard the blast which ended up injuring nine people.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the software engineer said, “I had finished my idli and was about to eat dosa. My mother called me over the phone and I walked some 10 metres away to talk to her which saved my life.”

“My mother called me just to inquire how the day was going and also she was checking whether I had lunch. I had moved some 10-15 metres away from where the blast took and it saved me. It took me a while to come to terms that I remained unhurt,” The Indian Express quoted Alankrit as saying.

The techie has been working in Bengaluru for the past year, and going to Rameshwaram Cafe is a daily routine for him, he said.

“Initially, the local people and even I believed that it was a domestic cylinder blast and I rushed to help some of the injured. I stayed for some 45 minutes after the incident. There were about more than 100-150 people in the cafe when the incident took place. It was only in the evening after going through media reports I came to know that it was a bomb blast,” Alankrit told Express.

Rameshwaram Cafe blast: What happened

A blast rocked the Rameshwaram Cafe during the bustling lunch hour on Friday, and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah confirmed later that the blast was caused by a low-intensity improvised explosion device (IED). At least nine people were left injured due to the blast.

The Bengaluru central crime branch on Saturday detained four people in connection with the IED blast, and the police force said that they are close to identifying the prime accused in the case.