Three held for threat message to attack Mahabodhi temple

The Bihar police have arrested three persons for sending threat message to attack the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar's Gaya district, a police officer said on Sunday.

On the basis of call details of a mobile phone from which an SMS was sent to top district officials last week threatening to attack Mahabodhi temple, police arrested three persons identified as Shahanwaz, Afzal and Guddu alias Jaikishan from various places in the district last night, Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said.

During interrogation, Shahanwaz confessed he had sent the threat message from a mobile phone that he had procured from Jaikishan on fake documents in the name of one Shamsuddin whom he had wanted to frame in a false case due to an old enmity, he said.

Afzal was arrested for helping Shahanwaz in sending the threat messages, Maharaj said. In the SMS, the accused persons had mentioned about Maoists' attack on dozens of vehicles on G T Road and threatened to carry out another attack on the Buddhist shrine, he said.

The threat message to attack Mahabodhi temple was sent on July 5 last, Maharaj added.