Bengaluru: A woman was killed and another man was injured when a minor explosion took place near Coconut Grove restaurant at Church Street around 8:30 pm in Bangalore on Sunday.

Bhavani Devi, 38-year-old from Tamil Nadu, was rushed to Mallya Hospital, succumbed to injuries. Hospital sources said the reason of death was severe bleeding inflicted due to the shrapnel from the low-intensity bomb.

“Bhavani had gone to Ameoba bowling alley in Church Street with her children and was heading towards Hotel Empire for dinner when she was hit by the shrapnel,” said Subramani, a relative of the victim.

Police chief M N Reddi said improvised explosive device (IED) was used to trigger the blast. The police and the forensics team determined that this was a low-intensity bomb from the shrapnel recovered from the blast site.

Additional Police including Reserve Police and members of Internal Security Division are on the spot and have cordoned the area.

The bomb was placed behind a flower pot, wrapped in newspaper and covered with a piece of cloth, police said.

While two people are being questioned in the matter, it is not clear if these are suspects or eye-witnesses. The reason for the explosion remains unknown, and nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.

A special investigation team has been formed to probe the case. The entire city, which has been on the terror watch for a while, has now been put on high alert. The entire police force has been mobilised to tackle any threat perception faced by the IT city that is gearing up for New Year eve festivities.

“We have asked for additional reinforcements from the Karnataka Reserve Force. Due to the proximity of New Year’s festivities there have been threat perceptions in general and we have been on alert,” Reddi said.

Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda also reached the spot and said that the police is investigating the matter seriously.

“State Govt is taking necessary steps, Central Govt will give all possible help so that no such untoward incident happens in future,” Gowda said.

Church Street is a very busy area, just off Bengaluru’s MG Road, and is frequented by youngsters as the place has many eateries and pubs. The country’s IT hub was hit by bomb blasts in 2008, 2010 and 2013.