Bodh Gaya:
A day after multiple blasts, regular prayers were organised at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya. Earlier, the Bihar Police released the CCTV footage of one of the blasts. They have also detained a man named Vinod Mistry, whose identity card was found at the blast site, for questioning. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he will ask the Centre to appoint the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) to guard the world-famous temple.
Here are the 10 latest developments:
Gaya District Magistrate D Balamurugan said that the temple was reopened to the public with special prayers by Buddhist monks. "Hundreds of Buddhist monks and others took out a peace march that culminated at the main gate of the temple, where they prayed for peace, to mark the re-opening of the temple," he said.
The Bihar Police, meanwhile, procured the CCTV footage from about 15 cameras installed in the temple and are examining it further for clues. Ten blasts took place and three live bombs were recovered from the holy Buddhist site.
The bomb analysis report says the bombs were very similar to those used in Jaipur, Pune and Ahmedabad blasts. The bombs were triggered by analogue timer clocks which were set for 5.30 am. It also says 150-200 grams of ammonium nitrate was used as the explosive material in each bomb.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today said his ministry has information that there were actually ten blasts in Bodh Gaya, and not nine as he said yesterday after the attack. He added that 13 bombs in all were planted across the temple. Mr Shinde also identified the two Buddhist monks injured in the attack as Dorji, 50 and Saga, 30.
The Home Ministry yesterday confirmed it was a "terror attack." The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the blast. An NIA team reached Bodh Gaya on Sunday evening. The National Security Guard too will investigate the blasts.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of politicising the Bodh Gaya serial blasts, alleging a nexus between the two parties.
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have called for bandh today in the Magadh region of the state to protest against the failure of the Nitish Kumar government in providing security to the temple.
A terror suspect named Anwar Hussain Mallik was arrested with Rs. 1.9 lakh in fake currency from the Nadia district in West Bengal on Saturday. After the questioning today, the Kolkata police said no link has been established as yet between Anwar and the blasts.
Security was lax at the temple. This despite the special cell of the Delhi Police having sent an intelligence input in October last to Bihar about a possible strike on the Mahabodhi temple by the Indian Mujahideen.
The outer periphery of the Mahabodhi temple is guarded by the Bihar Police while the temple premises by private security guards. According to reports, there were just four guards on duty when the blasts occurred. After the alert, the temple had hired a private security agency, but there was allegedly no initiative by the Bihar Police to secure the important religious and tourist spot.
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