One person detained in connection with Bodh Gaya serial blasts

Gaya: One person was detained on Monday by the NIA in connection with the serial blasts at the Mahabodhi temple in which two monks were injured. DIG, Magadh Range, Nayyer Hasnain Khan said an identity card was found within the temple premises yesterday on the basis of which the person was detained.

The NIA, Khan said, was interrogating him. “One suspect hailing from Barachatti block in Gaya has been detained and we are questioning him. We have been analysing the footage and based on that some more people would be questioned soon,” a senior police official said.

“All the CCTV cameras in the Mahabodhi temple premises were fully functional. As you must have seen in the CCTV footage, both state security personnel and temple’s own security personnel were present. I don’t think there was any lapse on security front,” the official said.

A five-member NIA team comprising a DIG and two SPs reached here on Sunday by a special plane from New Delhi and went straight to the Mahabodhi temple to start investigations. Security has been stepped up at the temple and adjoining areas.

Terror struck one of the holiest Buddhist shrines and other places in Bihar’s pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya on Sunday with suspected Indian Mujahideen operatives simultaneously triggering nine low intensity bombs.

While four blasts took place inside the Mahabodhi Temple complex, three occurred in Karmapa monastery, one each near near the famous 80-ft Buddha statue and at the bus stand near bypass.

The temple’s sanctum sanctorum and the Bodhi Tree, under which Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, did not suffer any damage in the blasts.

Normal life was severely hit in Bihar’s Gaya district on Monday as BJP and RJD gave separate bandh calls to protest against the state government’s alleged security lapses that led to the terror attack in the temple town injuring two monks, official sources said.

BJP workers took to the streets from early morning to enforce the dawn-to-dusk bandh forcing shops and business establishments to close down, the sources said.

The temple town of Bodh Gaya was particularly hit by the bandh as roads wore a deserted look and shops and business establishments remained shut since morning, they said. Observing a separate 12-hour bandh in the entire Magadh division, RJD workers were seen stopping movement of vehicles and forcing shopkeepers to shut down shops in Gaya, Jehanabad and adjoining districts, the sources said.

In Jehanabad, the RJD supporters disrupted train services and raised slogans against the state government for failure to prevent serial blasts in Bodh Gaya town.

There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere due to the bandh called by the RJD and BJP, police sources said.

CCTV footage released

The CCTV footage of serials blasts at the Mahabodhi temple and adjoining areas were released on Monday in which some people were seen running helter and skelter to save their lives.

In the CCTV footage of the blast that took place on the left side of Mahabodhi tree in the temple premises at 5:25 A.M on Sunday, a boy and a girl, aged about 25 years, were seen walking on the road immediately before the blast.

Taken by surprise at the sound of explosion, the duo were seen stopping for a brief period to find out as to what happened before fleeing from the spot to save themselves.

The footage also showed another man, aged about 30 years, walking inside the Mahabodhi temple and going upto the blast side before making a quick exit.

The smoke billowing from the blast was also captured in the footage which also showed over 100 people standing inside the temple at the time of occurrence of the blast.

The CCTV footage, which was released by the District Development Officer (DDC) Giridhar Dayal, SP (City) Chandan Kushwaha and members of Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC), captured the sound of the second blast which took place in Ratnagiri temple located barely 50 meters away from the Mahabodhi temple. In the third footage of the blast at Taradevi temple, thick smoke was seen billowing out after explosion and scores of people running away for safety.

A BTMC office bearer Arvind Singh, who was present during the release of CCTV footage, said that the footage was released to prove that there was no no lapse on the part of the BTMC to maintain security at the Buddhist shrine and adjoining areas as has been proved by the fact that 15 out of 16 CCTV cameras were functional