Chennai, Mar 5 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted raids in Chennai and Ramanathauram district in connection with the March one Bengaluru Rameswaram cafe IED blast in which ten people were injured.

The raids are being held in at least 4-5 locations, reports said.

A day after taking over the probe by registering a formal case on the orders of the Union Home Ministry, the NIA authorities conducted raids to ascertain whether there has been any link with any outfits in Tamil Nadu in connection with the Bengaluru cafe blast.

Initial probe has revealed involvement of some suspected links with people outside Karnataka in the blast that prompted the Union Home Ministry to hand over the probe to the NIA.

In Chennai, the raids are being conducted at Mannaday and Muthialpet in North Chennai and also in the southern Ramanathapuram district.

Based on the CCTV footages, Police have identified the culprit who had kept the bag in the cafe in which the IED was kept and has launched a manhunt to nab him.

Officials also suspect that the culprit, who had travelled by a bus from the blast site, might have fled Karnataka to any of the neighbouring states.

UNI