‘Rohingya angle’ to Bodh Gaya blasts

Indian intelligence says there's a "Rohingya angle if not a Rohingya link" to Sunday's serial explosions at Bodh Gaya in the country's Bihar state which left two monks injured and Buddhist pilgrims in panic.

Many South-east Asian group pilgrim tours from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos to Bodh Gaya, where Lord Gautam Buddha is said to have attained his enlightenment, have been cancelled.

Indian intelligence says a regional Islamist terror group, possibly the Laskhar-e-Tayyiba is behind the explosions.

India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) had warned Bihar government about a possible explosion(s) in Bodh Gaya in two consecutive advisories last month, a senior IB official said.

"We had picked up sensitive extremist chatter during our monitoring which suggested a terrorist recce of Bodh Gaya," he said but was not willing to be named.

LET chief Hafiz Saeed had warned India recently for "helping Myanmar wipe out Rohingya Muslims".

"India is in cahoots with Myanmar's oppressive Buddhist regime which is wiping out Rohingya Muslims. It should be prepared for the consequences," Saeed had said in a press statement.

IB officials say they dont think any Rohingya armed group, even those linked to regional Islamist terror groups like LET, would have been involved in the explosions, because they lack the capabilities.

"But the possibility of someone like LET being behind the Bodh Gaya blasts is strong. They are trying to make a strong statement on the Rohingya issue," an IB official said.

The Pakistan Taliban had warned Myanmar for the "oppression" against the Rohingyas last year when riots rocked the Arakans.

It had said attacks on Myanmar diplomatic missions unless the attacks against the Rohingyas stopped.

Indian Muslim groups demonstrated in Mumbai and other cities against the "oppression" of the Rohingyas.