Patna blasts: Bihar CM Nitish says he 'had ordered tight security at Gandhi Maidan'

Condemning Sunday's serial blasts that took place in Patna, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said he had ordered tight security at Gandhi Maidan, the venue of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's 'Hunkar' rally.

Kumar, who addressed the JD (U) party workers here, said he had directed the police officials to ensure elaborate security arrangements and also ordered Gandhi Maidan to be sanitised ahead of the BJP's rally.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was supposed to travel to Patna today to asses the situation in the aftermath of Sunday's serial blasts, said he did not go there as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was busy in some meeting in Rajgir.

Shinde said the Bihar Chief Minister would meet him in New Delhi tomorrow.

"He is going to meet me tomorrow. I was scheduled to go (to Patna) today, but he has some meeting in Rajgir and is not there," Shinde said.

"But today, I have sent the Home Secretary, Joint Secretary and Director General of NIA to Patna to assess the situation, and they will report to me," he added.

Shinde reiterated that the Bihar Government had received intelligence inputs from the Centre on specific threats to political rallies.

"We provide both general and specific information regarding possibility of blasts and other incidents. The state police must be alert while rallies are being organized," he told media here on the sidelines of a CRPF function here.

Shinde had earlier on Monday said that he would be visiting Patna to take stock of the situation there.

"I am going to Patna tomorrow and will take stock of the situation once I get there, after which I will inform you what the proceedings are. For now, there have been some arrests made. Out of the two injured, one has been arrested and the other is in the hospital," Shinde told media here yesterday.

The Home Minister also said that the agencies are conducting a thorough enquiry.

"I think it is not appropriate to make any comment as the investigation is ongoing," he added.

Bihar Police has arrested two suspected terrorists, including one believed to be mastermind behind the blasts. Several others have also been detained in connection with Sunday's serial blasts in Patna in which six people were killed and 83 injured.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who ended his party's alliance with the BJP in August over the latter's decision to give Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the starring role in its campaign for the national elections, had earlier on Sunday said there should be no politics over the blasts.

Kumar, who announced Rs. five lakhs as financial assistance for the families of the deceased in the Patna serial blasts, confirmed that there was no intelligence input about the explosions.

Kumar also said the Bihar Police is confident of gaining pivotal information from the suspect regarding the investigation, and was confident of reaching solid conclusions about the perpetrators soon.

The low intensity blasts rocked Patna between 9.30 a.m. and 12.45 p.m. on Sunday shortly before Modi's address to a 'Hunkar rally' in Gandhi Maidan.