Bodhgaya, July 13: Professional explosive experts working for Maoists and criminal gangs operating in the Magadh region are under the scanner of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the July 7 Bodhgaya blasts.
Sources said the NIA picked up Dev Kumar, a Maoist, from Gaya Central Jail premises on Friday. The resident of Gaya district had gone to meet a Maoist leader lodged in the jail.
An investigating officer, preferring anonymity, said: “There have been instances of frequent use of cylinder bombs by Maoists in Gaya and Aurangabad districts to harm security personnel during special operations. Low-intensity bombs were used in Bodhgaya, while Maoists use high intensity explosives of identical composition to cause maximum injury.”
The size of the cylinders has baffled the investigators. “Such small LPG cylinders, used for the first time, were found in abundance in and around the shrine prior to July 7. They were filled with ammonium nitrate, sulphur, potassium and shrapnel and then connected to a detonator, battery and timer clocks to trigger the blasts,” he said.
To drive home his point, the officer said professional explosive experts have no ideology. “They work for both the Maoists and the criminal gangs for money,” he said, ruling out direct involvement of rebels in the blasts. He said forensic test of samples gathered from the blast sites would throw more light on this point.
“Preliminary tests by explosive experts of the National Security Guards and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad, have hinted at the composition of the explosives. Further analysis will help investigators,” he added.
A senior NIA officer, however, denied any direct link between the Maoists and the Bodhgaya incident. “The rebels don’t have any record of targeting religious places. They run the risk of losing the support of rural masses if they do,” he said.
The teams are also working on the suspect theory. “We have interrogated the guards of the private security agency and those hired by the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee. Over 12 monks, including six women, who were allowed to meditate on the temple premises on the night of July 6, have also been quizzed,” said the investigating officer. He added that the agency has got inputs from local residents on the NIA helpline, which was made public on Friday to give information about the July 7 incident.
“We have received several calls on the helpline. The inputs are being corroborated,” said a superintendent-rank officer assigned to man the helpline. The probe, however, revolves around an Islamic group, which is suspected to be involved in the blasts. They did not rule out the questioning of some representatives of a place of worship adjacent to the Mahavihara.
