NEW DELHI: In what points to a preliminary assessment that Bodh Gaya blasts may be linked to the ongoing communal strife in Myanmar, a Union home ministry advisory on Sunday morning asked the states to beef up security at Buddhist shrines and Tibetan settlements, indicating that they could be targeted by radical outfits seeking to avenge attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

While calling for stepped up vigil at sensitive installations, crowded places and places of worship, the MHA advisory issued soon after the blasts asked the states to take special care to secure Buddhist installations. It mentioned inputs about alleged plans of radical groups to target Buddhist places of worship and Tibetan settlements in India “in the light of clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar in the recent months”.

Besides chief secretaries of all the states, the advisory was specifically addressed to the police commissioners of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. All these cities have been targets of terror strikes in the past.

Central security agencies feel the Bodh Gaya blasts were carefully planned and intended to create fear and panic among people and communal discord, rather than maximise casualties. The blasts were possibly the handiwork of a local module, given the low-intensity bombs used and the chosen timing of the blasts early in the morning, which ruled out high casualties.

The home ministry advisory issued on Sunday asked the states gear up intelligence gathering and security machinery. “All police stations (should be) alerted, with additional deployment at sensitive locations. All precautionary measures may be taken to prevent untoward incidents. Any development of interest be reported at once,” it said.

