A loud bang and the next moment three cars went up in flames and a bike blown to smithereens, recounted witnesses to a terror strike outside the BJP office here buzzing with activity ahead of the May 5 Assembly polls.
“All of us were sitting in a police van in front of which the cars and a motorbike were parked. I heard a deafening sound and when I opened my eyes I saw all the three vehicles in flames and the bike blown to smithereens,” 50-year-old Meerannavar told PTI.
“Our van was fully damaged, the glass panes shattered, with splinters hitting us. The impact of the blast was so much that the seats sprang up and I almost hit the roof. I cannot hear through my left ear now,” said the policeman, undergoing treatment at the hospital.
He was among the injured police personnel from the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP).
Meerannavar has glass splinters embedded in his head which would have to be removed, according to the doctors.
58-year-old Kunjappa, a KSRP Sub Inspector, said, “The sound was such, I felt my head would split into two. While I saw flames leaping from the vehicles, the bike broke into pieces.” Kunjappa was also having hearing problem and suffered injuries all over his body.
“My head still feels heavy and is reeling. It was a sound which I will never like to hear again. The vehicles in front of our van were burning while our van was badly damaged with glass splinters from the broken window panes flying all over. I feel terrible,” said Vishveshwaraiah (50), looking badly shaken after the incident.