The authorities at the famous Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi received an anonymous letter here, warning them of a projected bomb blast on the temple premises. Vishambhar Nath Mishra, the chief priest of the temple, said that according to the letter a bigger blast, than that which took place in 2006, will hit the temple again.
On March 7, 2006, the Sankat Mochan temple, along with Varanasi Cantonment Railway station and the Shiv Ganga Express was shaken up by a series of high-intensity bomb explosions which killed 21 people and left more than hundreds injured.
“We received a letter threatening a bomb blast in Sankat Mochan Temple in Varanasi. The letter said that bombings were carried out earlier in the temple and a bigger blast will happen again. We informed the police and handed over the letter to them. We are taking precautions and police is investigating the matter,” Mishra told ANI on Wednesday.
Mishra furthered that since the letter claimed that the blast would be bigger in intensity than that which transpired in 2006, it was clear that the same group of anti-social miscreants were involved this time too.
Varanasi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anand Kulkarni stated that few names and a mobile number were mentioned in the letter and cops are looking at all the angles to nab the culprits.
“The letter had some names and a mobile number. Prima facie it appears someone may have done it to create trouble for the person named in the letter due to personal enmity. This temple is an important place of worship in Varanasi and we have tightened security in the area,” Kulkarni told ANI.
An unknown terror group, Lashkar-e-Kahar (also known as Lashkar-e-Qahab) had claimed responsibility of the 2006 Varanasi attacks and had warned of similar attacks in other cities until and unless the government didn’t stop its “catch and kill” operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
