A cloth merchant from Kaul Bazaar in Ballari district in Karnataka and a Popular Front of India cadre have been detained by the National Investigation Agency and Central Crime Branch in their joint investigation of the March 1 blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru, sources said on Friday.

The teams suspect that one of the two detenues, who was an active member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), was part of the plot.

The investigating team believes that he had proximity with some terrorist organisations.

Sources said the PFI cadre is believed to have brainwashed many people, including the man who planted the bomb.

Meanwhile, the investigation teams found that the man who planted the bomb at the food joint on March 1 travelled from Bengaluru to Tumakuru, Ballari, Bidar and then Bhatkal, sources said.

CCTV footages captured by the cameras at the city bus and bus stand shows him that he frequently changed his dress to hide his identity and mislead the investigators.

Meanwhile, the Rameshwaram Café, which was shut since the incident, reopened on Friday.