Were Bodh Gaya bombers employed as temple staff?

New Delhi, July 9: Were the Bodh Gaya bombers employed with the temple committee?

The authorities in bomb blast investigations have spotted six people including a woman in CCTV footage at Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple in Bihar.

And, the police have issued a look-out notice for six people who had been working with the Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee for the last six months and are absconding after the serial bomb blasts.

The investigating agencies officials strongly feel that some of them are the suspects spotted in the CCTV footage.

If the bombers were employees of the temple committee then they had ample time to study their target areas. It also gave them access to areas which others would not be allowed.

The six were spotted close to the temple gate and wall, hours before the blasts.

According to police officials, the CCTV footage shows three people entered the temple premises through unspecified entry points and two others stood near the gate close to the car they came in. One of them, who is the tallest, carried a bag on his shoulder.

"Three suspects arrived near the temple in a tempo (auto-ricksaw) Sunday early hours followed by three more suspects (who) arrived at the same place in an Indica (car). Among them is a woman, who is also spotted in the CCTV footage," a police official said.

But officials are facing a problem since the footage from the 16 functional CCTV cameras installed in the temple is of poor quality.

"The poor footage has complicated the matter as despite identifying some clear movement at around 4.10 a.m. close to the Bodhi tree, we are unable to see the face," an official said.

The officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau as well Bihar Police are busy analyzing the CCTV footage in slow motion at the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee office Gaya.

With agencies inputs