Bodh Gaya:
Religious places in India may now be protected by the paramilitary, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said today after visiting the Mahabodhi shrine in Bodh Gaya, the site of multiple blasts on Sunday.
Mr Shinde, who visited Bodh Gaya along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said the Centre will consider CISF security for holy sites. The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar had been criticized for leaving the security of the Mahabodhi temple complex in the hands of private guards.
According to the home minister, gas cylinders packed with ball bearings were used in the bombs. (
Highlights of Shinde's press conference)
"We are investigating the involvement of 3 to 4 people. We don't want to arrest anyone in a hurry", said Mr Shinde on a day the Bihar police let off 4 people detained in connection with the blasts.
Speaking on the delay in the National Investigation Agency team's arrival at the blast site, Mr Shinde said their flight was delayed by bad weather.
The Congress president and home minister's visit comes a day after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chose to target the Centre for failing to check terror.
On Tuesday, BJP president Rajnath Singh, along with senior party leaders Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad, visited the Mahabodhi temple and later criticized the Centre, intensifying the political blame-game that has marked the aftermath of the terror strike.
"No state can act against terror by itself, the Centre must help," said Rajnath Singh, when repeatedly asked if he blamed the state government.