Patna blasts: Routine checks not done, Police didn't clear crowds

The Patna blasts which killed five people and injured close to 100 has put the Nitish Kumar government under the scanner. And although Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has vigorously defended the security arrangements for the Hunkar rally, central intelligence agencies are reportedly begging to differ. According to this report in the Times of India: Sources said though there were no specific inputs, Bihar government was told about possible threats to the Narendra Modi rally. Still, security was so lax that even anti-sabotage checks, a routine in such rallies, were not done. Even policemen were not found in adequate numbers around the venue while several peripheral sections of the venue were seen guarded by private security. [caption id=“attachment_1197553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI image[/caption] For his part, Nitish said, “There were no intelligence inputs either from the Centre or from the state. Whatever was possible to do for this kind of a programme, the administration had done. Security was tightened keeping in mind the BJP rally. Senior police officials had personally monitored the security arrangements at Gandhi Maidan,” Meanwhile more shocking news about the manner in which the blasts were handled are emerging. This report in The Hindu quoted many of the victims as saying that people had alerted the police when they spotted the explosive devices, but the police took no step whatsoever to move people to safety. Furthermore it has been revealed that people had tried to defuse the bombs by throwing stones at them. The Home Ministry has asked the Bihar government for a report into the incident. Concerned over the blast at the Patna Railway Station and recovery of two more crude bombs, the Ministry told the state government to send a report about the nature of the bomb, suspected persons or organisations which could be behind it and steps taken to maintain law and order, PTI said, quoting official sources. The Centre has also decided to send a team of explosive experts of the NIA to help the Bihar police in post-blast investigation, the report added. Police have since arrested four people, and have pointed to the Indian Mujahideen as being behind the blasts. A report in  the Times of India said four alleged operatives of the outfit had been detained, one of whom was in critical condition after being caught in one of the blasts. “During interrogation, they reportedly told the police that they had staged the attack in retaliation for the Muzaffarnagar riots. They are also said to have named the IM module involved in the Bodh Gaya blasts”, the TOI report added. According to the Hindu, one of the alleged operatives is named Imtiaz Ansari, who was caught while allegedly trying to flee after the blast at the station. He has subsequently confessed to his role in the attack. Meanwhile  CNN-IBN reported that Tehseen Akhtar, who is the right hand man of arrested IM mentor Yasin Bhatkal, has emerged as the prime suspect behind the attack. “Aktar alias Monu had taken over the Darbhanga module after Bhatkal’s arrest. Sources further added that interrogators feel the attack was carried by Akhtar to take revenge for Bhatkal’s arrest. However, they also added that this inputs are based on preliminary inquiries”, the report added.