NIA announces Rs 10 lakh award for info on Gaya serial blasts

The National Investigation Agency, that is probing the serial blasts at Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple in Bihar, announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anybody providing information about suspects in the case, on Wednesday.

"The NIA has appealed to the people to provide information about suspects in the case and has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for it,” a police official assisting NIA team said. The NIA formally took over the investigation on Tuesday evening.

On Tuesday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formally wrote to the union home ministry, requesting it to hand over the investigations to the NIA and depute the Central Industrial Security Force for the security of the Mahabodhi temple.

“The request was accepted and the NIA formally took over the investigation on Tuesday evening,” an official in chief minister office said. An NIA team, along with the national Security Guards arrived in Bodh Gaya on Sunday night and began their investigations

Meanwhile, three First Information Reports were lodged on Wednesday in connection with the serial blasts police officials said. 

“The FIRs were lodged on the basis of the statement of a staff of Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee, a Buddhist monk and a police official,” Gaya Superintendent of Police Ganesh Kumar said.

According to officials, the FIRs were lodged on the initiative of the NIA team. Meanwhile, the Patna police has released the four suspects who were detained on Tuesday.

They were among the six people spotted in the footage and suspected to be involved in the Sunday bombings in which two people were injured, he said. An official involved in scanning the footage said they had detected six suspects, including a woman, since their movement close to the temple gate and wall, hours before the blasts, were captured on the CCTV.

The footage showed that three people entered the temple premises through unspecified entry points and two others stood near the gate close to the car they came in. The tallest of them was carrying a bag on his shoulder.