No concrete breakthrough into 10 serial blasts in Bodh Gaya
Thursday, 11 July 2013 02:40
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XINHUA: There seems to be no concrete breakthrough even two days after a series of 10 bomb blasts rocked a world famous Buddhist temple complex in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, injuring five people, including two Tibetan monks.
Though Indian authorities Monday detained a suspect in the terror attacks and released the close circuit television footage of the blasts in the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bodhgaya town, some 130 kms from state capital Patna, a senior police official admitted that it has not yet been clear as to who exploded the bombs and why. “We are analysing the footage but nothing substantial has come out. The suspect is being questioned but we are yet to reach a conclusion. Six more suspects have been identified. But it is possible that the bomb planters could have avoided the CCTV in the temple premises. The probe is still on,” he said, on condition of anonymity.
In fact, the 10 blasts took place in the Mahabodhi temple complex Sunday. The first blast took place inside the temple at 5:30 a.m. (local time) and was followed by nine successive explosions in the next 30 minutes. However, three live bombs were detected and defused.
“It was a terror attack. The National Investigation Agency (anti-terror probe agency) has been sent to investigate the blasts” Indian Home Secretary Anil Goswami had said in the national capital.
However, there has been no damage to the temple or its 1,500- year-old main shrine.
“I have seen the inside of the Mahabodhi shrine and it is not affected. The blasts took place outside the main shrine, including where there is a Japanese temple housing a big statue of the Buddha,” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said, after visiting the spot Sunday. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have condemned the terror attacks, saying “such acts will never be tolerated”.
Hours after the blasts, a terror alert was issued by the Home Ministry to eight major cities; the Indian capital, Mumbai, the eastern city of Kolkata, the western cities of Ahmedabad and Pune, and southern cities of Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The advisory said that special care needs to be taken to protect Buddhist shrines, places of worships and Tibetan settlement in the wake of clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar.
The Mahabodhi temple is believed to have been built by Emperor Ashoka around 250 BC at the site where Buddha attained enlightenment. Millions of tourists and pilgrims from around the world visit the temple every year.
