The explosion took place inside the moving vehicle. The car immediately caught fire. The incident took place on NH-48 in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district at 7am on Sunday. A young woman jumped from the car to save her life shortly before the explosion.
However, a young man died inside the car. The victim’s name is Nagendra, the driver Praveen has been admitted to the hospital with serious injuries. However, after preliminary investigation, the police said that it was not an accident, but a planned suicide attack.
Nagendra hails from Ankola in Uttara Kannada district. The injured woman, Ramya, also hails from the same locality and works as a lab/OT technician at an institute in Bangalore. The two had a long-standing relationship. However, Nagendra allegedly got angry after the marriage proposal was rejected.
Nagendra took Ramya in a hired cab from a paying guest house in Bengaluru’s Jayanagar area on Saturday morning. A friend of Ramya saw the incident and lodged a complaint of kidnapping. The vehicle was heading towards Ankola on NH-4
According to the police, Nagendra took the bomb inside the car. The bomb exploded. The car was completely burnt and Nagendra died on the spot. Police recovered another unexploded bomb from the spot.
Tumakuru Superintendent of Police Ashok KV said investigations are on to ascertain how Nagendra collected the bomb and whether the entire incident was premeditated. Police from Bangalore’s Siddhapura police station and Tumakuru’s Kallambela police station are jointly investigating the incident. The injured girl is undergoing treatment.
