At least five people were killed and 83 injured as eight bombs exploded in Patna on Sunday in and around the ground where Narendra Modi addressed his “hunkar” rally hours later.
The first blast took place at Patna railway station at 9:30am, killing one and injuring three. This was three-and-a-half hours before Modi arrived in Patna. Subsequent blasts took place at Gandhi Maidan almost two hours later. Even after the time gap, the district administration was unaware of the Gandhi Maidan blasts, and top Bihar police officers dubbed it as a truck tyre burst, claimed state BJP leader Sushil Modi.
Senior police officers later confirmed to dna that there were eight blasts. “All were blasts of varying intensities. We have recovered forensic evidence and remnants from the blast site and sent them to the lab,” a senior officer said.
No group has taken responsibility till now, he said. “But we have detained four people.” The police also recovered three bombs in polythene bags from Gandhi Maidan.
The blasts at Gandhi Maidan, where Modi later addressed a huge rally of BJP supporters, took place even as second rung party leaders were addressing the crowds ahead of Modi’s arrival. Modi’s meeting passed off peacefully, and the Gujarat chief minister made no reference to the bomb attacks. He, however, asked the BJP activists to disperse peacefully.
Later, Modi said the bomb attacks were “deeply saddening”. He appealed for peace and calm.
But the incident has put a question mark on the state’s preparedness for such rallies. An officer said 5,000 policemen were deployed across Patna. But those behind the attack seem to have taken advantage of the huge rush seen in the past couple of days, he said.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh telephoned Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and asked him to order a speedy investigation and punish the guilty. Minister of state for home RPN Singh said the attacks were “extremely unfortunate” and pledged to “get to the bottom of this”. “It was definitely a terror attack but nothing can be said about who the perpetrators were as investigations are in the initial stages. Possible leads will be available once we are able to find other footprints like timers, detonators and exact composition of the bomb,” a senior Union home ministry official said.
(With agency inputs)
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