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Modi contradicts home secretary on hostages

Vrunda Shah in Ahmedabad and Agencies

Contradicting Gujarat Home Secretary J Nityanand, Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday night said there were no devotees inside the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar.

He made this statement after the police had rescued 500 devotees, who were trapped inside the temple after it was attacked by terrorists.

Nityanand had earlier said 25 people were being held hostage by the terrorists.

"The centre of terrorist activity is now inside the main hall of the temple where two terrorists have held 25 people hostage," he had said.

But several reports, including from eyewitnesses, claimed that three terrorists are holed up inside the temple.

Several reports also said one more blast had occurred inside the temple after the police started flushing out operations. But they did not specify what caused the blast.

"At present there are 500 commandos inside the temple. So far, we have no reports of any demands made by the terrorists inside the temple," Nityanand had said.

Nityanand also said that 23 people were dead, including 13 men, 6 women and four children.

But hospital sources have put the toll at 26.

"At present we know that the terrorists are firing from AK-47 as some cartridges have been recovered. And so far the terrorists have made no demands," he said.

Inspector General of Police (Gandhinagar) Pramod Kumar, however, said some 50 to 60 devotees were inside the temple, but were safe and away from the area where the militants were operating.

He added that the police were not making efforts to evacuate these devotees right now, as this would expose them to the terrorists holed up inside the temple complex.

Complete Coverage: Gujarat Temple Attack

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