Nitish Kumar condemns blasts, seeks CISF security for temple

GAYA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today strongly condemned the serial blasts in and around Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya and demanded deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to protect the world famous Buddhist shrine.


"The serial blasts deserve strongest condemnation in strongest possible words as the perpetrators targeted the place of religious faith of crores of people with an aim to create fear among them," he told reporters after inspecting the blast sites at the Mahabodhi temple and surrounding areas in Gaya district with senior civil and police officials.

Kumar, however, dismissed suggestions that there was any security lapse and said adequate precautionary measures were taken to beef up security measures at the Mahabodhi temple and surrounding areas in the wake of intelligence inputs.

Asked about the perpetrators of the nine low-intensity serial blasts, in which two Buddhist monks sustained injuries, the Chief Minister said that the NIA and local police will probe the incident and expose the conspiracy and designs of those behind the attack.

He said it was clear that the serial blasts at the famous Buddhist shrine and surrounding areas were carried out to create fear among the pilgrims and divide society.

He said that a forensic team from Patna has already rushed to the spot to collect evidence and other material proofs related to the attack.

An NIA team from Delhi will arrive here in the afternoon to probe the incident, the Chief Minister said.

Kumar, upon arrival at Bodh Gaya by a helicopter from Patna with the Chief Secretary A K Sinha and the Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand, visited the Mahabodhi temple to take a first-hand stock of situation at the blast sites.