IT SEEMS that the State Government has failed to learn lessons from its past mistakes, and the consequences are in the form of Tuesday blasts in the holiest city in the country.
In February 2005, similar terror was created at the Dashashwamedh ghat, wherein seven persons were killed and many more were injured. Instead of bringing the culprits to books, the district administration did not leave any stone unturned to hush up the matter.
Two blasts within a span of half-an-hour, one at the temple and the other at the Cantonment Railway Station, rocked the nation on Tuesday. The manner in which the blasts took place is being seen as a terror attack.
Considered as one of the holiest cities for Hindus, Banaras has always been on the target of terror groups. This was evident from the fact that the same day of the blast at Dashashwamedh ghat, large quantity of RDX was seized from the Vishwanath Dwar. Despite this, the State Government appeared lax, which could be seen in Tuesday’s incident.
There have been instances from time to time, which were enough pointers to imminent threat that the city was facing. Investigations into the Shramjivi blasts in which many passengers were killed, had shown that the accused had boarded the train from Varanasi Cantonment station. A senior officer investigating the case was transferred, as a result investigation failed to reach its conclusion.
{{/usCountry}}There have been instances from time to time, which were enough pointers to imminent threat that the city was facing. Investigations into the Shramjivi blasts in which many passengers were killed, had shown that the accused had boarded the train from Varanasi Cantonment station. A senior officer investigating the case was transferred, as a result investigation failed to reach its conclusion.
{{/usCountry}}Last month one ISI agent was arrested in the district. He was a retired army jawan. The same day another man, with allegedly having links with Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, was arrested from one of of the madarsa.
It is said that during interrogation, the accused had spilled some beans, which could have helped the district administration to take some preventive measures. But the Tuesday blasts have shown that it failed to take lessons.