Patna, July 7: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and National Security Guards (NSG) have begun investigating the nine blasts at Bodhgaya’s Mahabodhi temple premises that left at least two persons, including a monk, seriously injured.
Both teams from New Delhi arrived at the Patna airport by an evening flight and immediately left for Bodhgaya, 130 km south, by road.
Additional director-general of police (headquarters) Ravinder Kumar said the two teams visited the blast site in the evening and gathered evidence. “The six-member NIA team is headed by a DIG-rank officer,” he said.
Earlier, director-general of police Abhayanand told reporters in Gaya the bombs were not of high intensity. “They were of medium intensity. As a result, no damage was caused to the sanctum sanctorum,” he said. Abhayanand, who accompanied chief minister Nitish Kumar to the site, said: “The state police would cooperate with the NIA.” Experts from the state forensic science laboratory and a dog squad were sent from Patna.
Abhayanand claimed that security around the temple was strengthened after intelligence inputs about a possible attack. Security was beefed up after a meeting chaired by the DIG concerned a few days ago. “But it was still inadequate,” he said. Security would be strengthened after consultations with the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has advocated for handing over security around the temple to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), he said.
Sources in the state police headquarters said a preliminary report has been sent to the Union home ministry. This is the first in the state after central intelligence agencies exposed Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) Bihar module.
Some 13 persons from the state, particularly from districts bordering Nepal, had been apprehended for alleged involvement in terror activities across the country in the past two years. They have all been been booked for alleged IM links. Of them six were apprehended from Darbhanga and Madhubani districts.
Md. Danish of Laheriasarai in Darbhanga — a close associate of Yasin Bhatkal who masterminded serial blasts in Delhi, Pune and Bangalore — was the last alleged IM operative to fall in the NIA net, in January.
Those arrested for their involvement in subversive activities have been identified as Gauhar Aziz, an engineer, from Barhsamela under Keoti police station in Darbhanga, Gayur Ahmad Jamali from Darbartola under Sakri police station in Madhubani, Mohammed Adil alias Ajmal alias Saheb, from Singhania Chowk under Buhra police station in Madhubani and Abdul Rehman from Birsinghpur under Laheriasarai police station in Darbhanga district respectively.
Source said that two other members — Mohammed Kafeel of Shivdhara and Asadullah Rehman alias Dilkash of Urdu Bazar in Darbhanga — were arrested on February 21 and March 27 last year. They allegedly had a hand in Delhi and Karnataka blasts.
Sources said that Kamal alias Bilal of Balha village in Madhubani district, bordering Nepal, was chargesheeted by the Delhi police for alleged involvement in the Jama Masjid blast and shootout in 2010. “The NIA is now in hot pursuit of Md. Tensin of Samastipur, involved in the Chinnaswami Stadium blast,” a Bihar cadre IPS officer posted with the NIA said.
