Blasts rock rally of controversial Hindu nationalist leader
Five people were killed and over 83 wounded when multiple bomb blasts hit the city of Patna in eastern India just hours before a rally for major opposition candidate Narendra Modi.
At least six homemade bombs exploded near a public ground in
Patna where tens of thousands of people had gathered to hear
Modi, a controversial figure from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya
Janata party (BJP), speak.
"There was a blast right behind me. I heard people saying that
one of the tires of a vehicle has burst," a witness told
Reuters. "When I went to the spot, I saw many people lying
injured on the ground."
Television broadcast scenes of panic, as people ran amidst a
backdrop of shattered glass from buses and billowing smoke.
"All the bombs produced low-intensity blasts," said Patna
district police chief Manu Maharaj. "An anti-sabotage team is
investigating what happened."
Modi did not mention the blasts in his speech, but later called
them "deeply saddening" on his Facebook page. Both he and
Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh appealed for calm.
The prime minister also called for "urgent steps to identify
and take action against those responsible."
Two more bombs were found near the railway station and the
bomb team was defusing them, railway police superintendent
Upendra Kumar Sinha said.
Four people are being interrogated about the explosions, NDTV
reported the police as saying.
AP cited security forces as saying that they had detained one man
for questioning, but did not say whether he was a suspect.
Modi, who is the chief minister of Gujarat state, is an equally
influential and controversial Hindu nationalist leader. He has
been accused of standing idly by as hundreds of Muslims were
killed following a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set ablaze
in 2002.
A Supreme Court-appointed panel cleared him of any
wrongdoing in the riots, and Modi himself has denied any
accusations of bias.
On Sunday, he sought to broaden his appeal ahead of next summer’s
elections by claiming poverty was an issue that cut across
religious lines.
"Do you want to fight against poverty or against Hindus?," he
asked. "Poor Muslims have to fight against poverty. Poor Hindus
have to fight against poverty."
He also accused Singh’s ruling Indian National Congress for
economic mismanagement which sparked high inflation in the
country.
