Third live bomb defused in Gaya

A Buddhist monk worships outside the Mahabodhi temple complex at Bodh Gaya. Nine blasts rocked the the temple town early Sunday.

A third bomb was recovered on Sunday from a village near Bodh Gaya hours after serial blasts rocked the temple town in Bihar’s Gaya district in which two monks sustained injuries, police said.

A cylinder bomb was recovered on Sunday afternoon from near Royal Residence hotel at Baiju Bigaha village, about 4 km away from the world famous Mahabodhi temple which borne the brunt of the terror attack.

The bomb disposal squad defused the bomb, they said.

Earlier Sunday morning, police recovered a cylinder bomb from Terega monastery and another bomb from near the 80-foot statue of Lord Buddha near the Mahbodhi temple after the serial blasts.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in Solapur in Maharashtra that separate teams from the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Investigation Agency have been rushed to Bihar to probe the blasts.

“I just talked to the Home Secretary and he told me that a team of NSG and a team of NIA have been sent to the blast site to probe the incident in Gaya,” he told reporters.

Mr. Shinde said nine blasts took place inside and outside the temple while two live bombs were detected and defused by the authorities there.

“Four blasts took place inside the temple complex. Three blasts took place near the Karmapa monastery while one each happened near the Buddha statue and a tourist bus stand outside. Two live bombs were detected and defused at the site,” he said.