The explosives used in the Patna blasts on Sunday contained ammonium nitrate and potassium chlorate.They were wrapped in plastic and carried in bags, police said.
A team of the Patna police conducted raids in some places in Ranchi and Patna. They said that some incriminating material were found.
Teams of the National Investigation Agency and the National Security Guard collected evidence and conducted sanitisation operations on Gandhi Maidan.
Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Ravinder Kumar denied reports of an NIA official saying that the Bihar police destroyed evidence in the process of defusing bombs.
“We have spoken to the NIA officials and they have said that no officer has made such a statement,” he said.
Asked about intelligence inputs received before the rally, Mr. Kumar maintained that there was no security lapse whatsoever on the part of the State. “It has already been clarified that there was no specific input.”
The Intelligence Bureau reportedly sent a letter dated October 23 to Bihar, which alerted the State about Narendra Modi’s image of a Hindu leader.
Bihar Director General of Police Abhayanand cited a line from the letter that “presently there is no specific input.” “The letter,” said an officer, “did not pinpoint anything. In fact, the Bihar police have made an arrest that throws light on the Bodh Gaya blasts.”
State agencies maintained that the crowds coming into the city were simply too huge to monitor minutely.
“All arrangements fail when you have such a large number of people. This was not a normal rally. We could not have evacuated people after the initial blasts, because it would have spread rumours and created a law and order situation,” an official source told The Hindu .
“One hundred per cent frisking is not possible for lakhs of people,” the police said.
Correction
>>The opening sentence of “Police conducts raids in Patna, Ranchi” (Oct. 29, 2013), read: “The explosives used in the Patna blasts on Sunday contained ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride.” A reader pointed out that it should have been potassium chlorate. The reader is right.
