Blame game begins over Varanasi blast

Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday slammed the central government for its claim that it had earlier issued a specific terror alert on Varanasi blast. The state government refused Home Minister P. Chidambaram's claim that the state was warned of a possible terrorist strike. Denying any 'security lapse' as alleged by the home minister, the state's top administrative official asserted that the 'Shitla Ghat' area was sanitised by the police barely an hour-and-a-half before the blast took place.