Bomb blast in Bangalore, India, kills woman, injures three others

BANGALORE, India, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- An improvised explosive device detonated next to a restaurant in India's fourth-largest city Sunday, killing a woman and hospitalizing at least three others, according to Indian officials.

The device blew up around 8:30 p.m. next to a popular Church Street restaurant called Coconut Grove, in central Bangalore. The explosion was described by police as "low intensity," though a nearby woman suffered head injuries and later died at the hospital.

Police commissioner M.N. Reddi told reporters the 38-year-old victim was "identified as Bhavani," and that three other bystanders -- one being her relative -- sustained wounds and were being treated in the same private hospital.

K.J. George, the home minister for the state of Karnataka where Bangalore is located, told Indian media the bombing was a terrorist attack, though no group has claimed responsibility and investigations are ongoing.

According to police the device was detonated using ammonium nitrate and was filled with shrapnel. Explosive ordinance disposal squads and forensic workers discerned it had been wrapped in paper and was time activated.

An investigation of closed-circuit television footage indicated the bomb had been placed in a bag and set in a roadside drain around 7:30 p.m. before being detonated one hour later. No one noticed the bag due to the crowded nature of Bangalore's streets on weekends.

The attack comes three days before year-end festivities in the populous city. Security has been ramped up with additional police forces, though the threat situation had already been regarded as high following the arrest of Mehdi Masoor Biswas, a 24-year-old computer engineer who is accused of maintaining a pro-Islamic State Twitter account.