Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at Patna rally
Gujarat's top cop has accused the Bihar Police of "indifference and laxity" and said that the string of blasts that killed six people in Patna just before Narendra Modi's rally on Sunday could have been averted if adequate security preparedness had been ensured.
Gujarat Director General of Police Pramod Kumar said in a statement today that his officers had been in touch with the Bihar Police for 20 days before Mr Modi's rally, but the police in Patna, he alleged, had agreed only with much reluctance to hold a joint meeting on security with them.
Mr Kumar has also alleged that the police in Patna did not conduct standard security drills and did not plan for crowd access control at the park that day. There were no metal detectors or even frisking as tens of thousands of people streamed in through six gates for the BJP rally.
The BJP has blamed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for "gross criminal negligence", alleging that even basic security arrangements for the Gujarat Chief Minister's rally were deliberately overlooked.
On Sunday, as Narendra Modi landed in Patna, two Gujarat Police cops had met him on the tarmac and informed him of a blast at the Patna Railway station. They had reportedly advised Mr Modi, who is the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister, not to continue to the venue of the rally. But Mr Modi insisted on carrying on as scheduled.
The BJP later said that at no time was it advised by the Bihar Police to call off the rally for security reasons. By the time Mr Modi reached the Gandhi Maidan venue, six blasts had happened in and around the park, one of them about 150 metres from the stage where political leaders sat.
Two days later, three more bombs were discovered as the police sanitised the park for another rally.
The Gujarat DGP pointed out in today's statement that a CPI rally was held at the same venue two days before Mr Modi's event and so the Bihar Police had very little time to sanitise the park for Mr Modi's rally.
Nitish Kumar has denied that there were security lapses on part of his administration.