Popular religious site – the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya in the state of Bihar – was rocked by explosions on July 7, 2013, in the morning. The temple had more than a hundred worshipers at that time, who had just finished 30 minutes of chanting and a few were entering the premises. The first blast occurred at 5:45 am, after which nine explosions followed in the next hour.
Four explosions happened at the temple sites, while five exploded within the 500-meter radius. On the evening of July 6, 2013, a suspect was held by the police, after which the Special Task Force of Kolkata is investigating if the man had any link with the serial blasts. The 42-year-old Anwar Hussain Mullick was arrested at a bus stop, with explosives and fake Indian currency notes.
The man held by the police is a resident of Chapra in West Bengal’s Nadia district bordering Bangladesh. Mullick will be kept under the police custody until July 20, 2013. From under the sacred tree at the site, a 3-kg cylinder with trinitrotoluene and ammonium nitrate was recovered. The tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment, as it is believed, was not damaged though.
Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, reached the spot from Patna at 10:45 am and visited the temple. Kumar requested from the central government for the Central Industrial Security force to be deployed.
