Gas cylinders used in Bodh Gaya blasts

One detained, no definite leads yet

Easy accessibility and very little chances of arousing suspicion appear to have prompted terrorists to use gas cylinders for the first time in the country outside Kashmir for Sunday’s explosions in Bodh Gaya.

Preliminary forensic examination of exploded bombs has revealed that ammonium nitrate and sulphur, along with timers, were neatly packed to the cylinders planted on the Mahabodhi Temple complex. Security experts said this was the first time that small gas cylinders, weighing just four-five kg, were used to trigger blasts of such large magnitude. It showed that the terrorists were improvising to suit local conditions.

Meanwhile, a man has been detained in connection with the blasts even as investigators on Monday groped for definite leads on the serial explosions from the CCTV footage in and around the site.

Bihar Director-General of Police Abhyanand said a person identified as Binod Kumar of Barachatti in Gaya district had been detained and questioned after a voter identity card in his name was found during searches inside the temple. Papers mentioning the location where the bombs had to be planted were found pasted on each explosive.

“Name of the location was written in English and some words in Urdu,” he said.
The police said Kumar's role in the attack, if any, had not been ascertained yet.

Sources said the investigators were scanning the CCTV footage from the Mahabodhi Temple complex to locate those who carried the bombs, possibly in bags or cartons, but the poor quality of pictures was a deterrent.

After examining the bombs which were tightly packed with timers and explosives, the National Security Guard team has sent a preliminary report to the Home Ministry, saying the explosions were triggered using clock timers.

Officials believe that suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists chose small gas cylinders over pressure cookers or briefcases because of their easy availability and innocuous appearance. Shops selling such small cylinders can be found aplenty in Bihar.

Their circulation is not monitored and the cylinders can be hidden easily. Moreover, hardly would anybody suspect it to be a bomb.

The terrorists had used gas cylinders to trigger explosions in stray incidents in Kashmir, but chemicals used were different. Experts said the terrorists were “innovating.” The IM terrorists had earlier used new bicycles to plant bombs. They resorted to second-hand cycles after police started locating shops from where they were bought.

Pressure cookers were used next. “Terrorists are into innovative methods. After using a particular equipment four or five times, they know that the police will be looking for such things. So they change their strategy. Now they have used gas cylinders. It is hard and helps in compressed explosion. It itself act as shrapnel. If they have used it this time, they may use something else next time,” Ajai Sahni, Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management, told Deccan Herald.

Former IPS officer Prakash Singh said “local talent and expertise” were used in the blasts. Experts were also critical of the authorities concerned for not acting on “specific” inputs about Bodh Gaya being on the terror radar. They blamed it on “complacency” and lack of quality in general policing.

“There is no justification on the part of the state government or the Bihar Police. They are passing the buck and asking for an NIA probe. There was no follow-up to the inputs. The whole incident shows the amazing abdication of responsibility by the state government,” Singh said.

“If the state and the Central governments are playing politics over terror and are trivialising it, then the country is headed for bad times.” Sahni said: “At present, counter-terrorism policing is completely divorced from general policing. Bomb blasts are a small part of terrorist activity and a whole lot of areas have to be covered by general policing for counter-terrorism to be successful.”