Announcing five lakhs as financial assistance for the families of the deceased in the Patna serial blasts, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday confirmed that there was no intelligence input about the explosions.
"The government will provide financial help of Rs. 5 lakhs to the victims of bomb blast and will provide full medical support to the injured," Kumar said here today.
"It is not a security lapse, but, yes, you can say that it was a big challenge for us," he added.
While condemning the blasts, the Bihar Chief Minister also said that the motive for the blasts was to destabilize the peace of his state, and it was a time for leaders of the country to stand united despite their varying political ideologies.
"Motive behind blasts was to destabilize Bihar. ... Some people have conspired to disrupt the peace and tranquility of the state. ... Even if we oppose each other in political ideology, we need to remain united to fight these mischievous elements," he said.
Kumar confirmed that one suspect is being interrogated extensively by the Bihar Police. He said the suspect was detained from the railway station where the first blast occurred around 9:30 a.m. this morning.
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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 injured have been taken to local hospitals in Patna and two of the injured remain in critical condition.
One police officer has also been injured.
Nitish Kumar said that he spoke to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and senior BJP leader L.K. Advani earlier in the day.
Earlier today, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde confirmed that 5 people have been killed and 72 others have been injured in the serial blasts of Patna, which occurred ahead of BJP's Prime Ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi's rally at Gandhi Maidan.
Shinde also confirmed that National Security Guards (NSG) have been sent to Patna via a special aircraft, in addition to a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA), who have been sent to assist the Bihar Police in further investigations.
Earlier today, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh condemned the serial blasts in Patna, and assured the center's full support to the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government to probe into the incident.
"We have assured the government in Bihar that we will provide all assistance in investigating the matter," Singh said.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and asked him to speedily investigate the blasts and punish the perpetrators responsible for the incident.
Dr. Singh condemned the blasts and appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm.
He also assured Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of all central assistance in the investigations.
The serial blasts did not deter the BJP from going on with their 'Hankar' rally, which took place at Gandhi Maidan earlier today despite the low-level explosions.