Bengaluru Pulakeshinagar Building Blast: Two Injured, Cause Under Investigation, Forensic Report Awaited

Updated 21 October 2026, about 3.15 p.m. IST. This is a developing story. The cause has not been established, the forensic report is awaited, and some details below differ from one report to another. We will revise this page when the police or the forensic laboratory say more.

What happened

Two men were hurt in an explosion at an under-construction building on Jermiah (also spelt Jeremiah) Road in Pulakeshinagar, also written Pulikeshi Nagar, in Bengaluru. Most reports place it on the afternoon of Tuesday, 20 October 2026, and the news broke on Wednesday, 21 October. Our automated live-events feed listed it under 21 October, but the police account points to the day before. Both injured men were taken to Bowring Hospital in Shivajinagar (Free Press Journal, Oneindia, Indian Opinion). Nobody was reported dead.

The hour is not settled. IANS says around noon. A witness quoted by Oneindia and DNA puts it at about 2 p.m., and India TV says around 2.30 p.m. City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said the police learnt of it only on Tuesday evening, after the hospital sent a medico-legal case report (ANI, via Asianet Newsable and The News Mill). Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge told reporters it happened “last night”, which does not match the Commissioner’s account of an afternoon blast. We have gone with the Commissioner’s Tuesday afternoon.

The building is on the Pulakeshinagar police station limits. According to ANI, interior work was going on and some completed flats in the same building were already occupied by families. Oneindia and DNA say the explosion was on the fourth floor.

The injured

Two men were injured. We are not naming them. Reports differ on who they were and how badly they were hurt:

• Who: PTI (Free Press Journal), Oneindia and DNA call both of them construction workers. ANI quotes the Commissioner as saying one was a worker and the other the building’s security guard. Both are from other states and not from Bengaluru, ANI reports, and the police are checking their backgrounds with the police in those states.
• How badly: Free Press Journal, Oneindia and DNA say “seriously injured”; Varthabharati reports serious head and facial injuries. A witness quoted by Oneindia and DNA says one man’s eye was badly hurt and the other lost a hand. IANS says one reportedly lost a finger. Minister Kharge, as reported by ANI, said one man had burns and the other minor injuries. ANI says one is still in hospital and the other has been discharged; The Logical Indian says the same.

We have not been able to confirm the condition of either man independently, and the hospital has issued no statement that we found.

What caused it: three accounts, none confirmed

The cause is under investigation. Commissioner Singh said it is not yet established and that every possibility, including an improvised explosive device (IED), is being examined. He told residents there was nothing to panic about and also said the incident did not involve a parcel. The accounts in circulation do not agree with each other:

• An IED. IANS reports that the blast is suspected to be an IED and that investigators are checking whether a device was placed at the site two days earlier. The same report says the police are also looking at a chemical reaction. This is a suspicion, not a finding.
• A battery. ANI reports that one injured man told the police he pressed a button on a battery-operated object he called a “battery torch” and it blew up, and that the Commissioner said the two men’s statements contradict each other. Oneindia and DNA carry preliminary information that a battery-like object kept inside a bag exploded. This is the injured man’s own account and has not been tested.
• A bag picked up from the road. India TV carries preliminary information that the two workers found a bag lying on the road, took it to the fourth floor and it exploded when they opened it. Other outlets do not report this, and the Commissioner’s statements as reported by ANI do not mention it.

Oneindia and DNA report that the police said there is currently no confirmed evidence that it was a deliberate attack. IANS reports a suo motu case by Pulakeshinagar police, with no specific sections registered at the time of its report. A Kannada outlet, Public TV, has a headline saying an FIR has been filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Explosives Act. We could not open that page, so we are not stating the sections.

Response

The Anti-Terrorism Cell, the Internal Security Division, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and forensic teams went to the site (Free Press Journal, Oneindia, ANI). Free Press Journal says this was a precaution. The Logical Indian notes that the presence of the anti-terror unit should not be read as proof of terrorism. All materials seized at the site have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, and the police are waiting for its report. The police have questioned the building owner; that is routine and does not by itself mean any wrongdoing (The Logical Indian, ANI). Minister Kharge urged people not to believe rumours until the laboratory report arrives. IANS notes that the blast came during the Vijaya Dashami festivities, which has drawn the attention of the authorities.

Why this matters to people near a building site

Whatever the laboratory finds, the case touches things that every neighbour of a building site should know. A blast on an upper floor of a building where families already live can hurt people who have nothing to do with the work. The first question residents ask is also the right one to ask the police: what was the object, and how did it get in?

Building sites hold more hazards than people think. Rechargeable batteries and power tools, gas cylinders for cutting and welding, paint and thinners, diesel generators and, on some jobs, detonators and explosives for rock-breaking all sit around casual workers. None of these has been named as the cause in Bengaluru; we list them only because they are the ordinary reasons a site can explode. Our guide on lithium-ion battery fires explains how swollen or hot cells can fail suddenly. Our case on the Fatehpur Malwan house explosion shows how long a cause can stay open after a blast.

What to do

• Do not pick up, open, move or switch on an unknown bag, box, torch or device. This applies on a site, on a road and in a stairwell. Leave it where it is and walk away. If you have already moved it, put it down gently and leave.
• Report it at once. Call 112, the single emergency number in Karnataka, and say where it is, what it looks like and who has touched it. Tell the site supervisor, building owner or society office, who should keep people back. Do not take photographs from close up and do not crowd round. Give the call-taker your location first.
• Clear the area calmly. If something has gone off, leave by the stairs, not the lift, and move to the open assembly point. Do not go back for belongings. Our evacuation plan guide shows how to set routes and meeting points.
• Blast injuries: first aid while help is on the way. Call 108 for an ambulance. Press firmly on any bleeding with a clean cloth and keep pressing. Do not pull out anything stuck in the wound. For a burn, hold it under cool running water for about 20 minutes and cover it loosely with a clean cloth, with no ointment, ice or toothpaste. If a finger or hand has been cut off, wrap the part in clean damp cloth, put it in a plastic bag and keep that bag cool, not directly on ice, and send it with the patient. Keep the person still and warm and talk to them. Many blast victims also have ringing ears or head injuries, so do not let them walk off. See our basic first aid guide.
• Contractors and owners: keep a register of batteries, cylinders and chemicals on the site; store cylinders upright and away from welding; keep detonators and explosives only with a licensed handler, never on a building site that has residents. Do not allow unknown bags or items to be carried up. Control entry with a gate register and check that the security guard knows the 112 number.
• Residents near a site: note who is working, report anything unusual to the building owner or police, and do not share unverified “bomb” messages on WhatsApp. They cause panic and can hamper the police.

These steps are general safety advice. They are not taken from the police and none of them is a finding about this case.

What is still not known

The cause. What the object was and whether it was a battery, a chemical mixture or an explosive device; how it came to be on the fourth floor; the exact time; the condition of both men and whether either is the building’s guard; which sections the FIR carries; and when the forensic report will come. IANS says the motive and anyone responsible are unclear. No death has been reported. We will update this page if the police or the laboratory publish a finding.

More on Bengaluru: see our Bengaluru fire and emergency safety guide for fire brigade numbers, every fire station and the local risks to know.