gaya a security audit of mahabodhi temple conducted by government agencies has identified vulnerable points and recommended a more robust security mechanism to ensure the shrines security following the audit the govt has recommended a slew of measures to tighten the shrine security the bodh gaya shrine it may be recalled has twice been attacked by two different terrorist organisations the first attack was engineered by a ranchi based sleeping module of indian mujahedeen in july2013 a couple of monks were injured in the lowintensity blasts again in january2018 jamiatul mujahedeen of bangladesh was involved in planting explosives in the shrine vicinityaccording to highly reliable sources privy to the govt advisory 17 different aspects of the shrine security have been dealt with the most important being the effective handling of door frame metal detectors and scanning of all items being taken inside the shrine including cameras the advisory said that for a more effective checking mechanism the bmp personnel engaged in shrine security should get training from the cisf it may be recalled is the specialised force to provide security to vital installations including airportsfollowing the request by the then governor rs gavai and cm nitish kumar after the july2013 attack the then union home minister sushil kumar shinde agreed to provide cisf cover to the shrine but as the state govt wanted the centre to bear the cost of cisf cover and the union home ministry insisted on payment based cisf cover the shrine security was ultimately handed over to the bihar military policewhile evading the issue of advisory on shrine security dm abhishek singh the gaya dm cum chairman of the bodh gaya temple management committee said that the shrine security was a dynamic process and needbased improvements are periodically made to strengthen the security mechanism asked what measures are being taken to make the security more effective the dm said that an additional watchtower would be constructed in the nearby jp botanical garden more lights are being installed to improve allround visibility during the dark hours the shrine outer walls have been made impregnable and entry and exit points have been separatedasked about reports that special passes for carrying items like mobile phones and cameras and vehicle passes to move in the no vehicle zone are being liberally issued without proper verification of the antecedents of the special pass recipients the dm said that some relaxation has to be made during occasions like special prayer sessions but the btmc secretary exercises due caution in the issuance of special passes the dm also said that police verification of shop keepers and those living in the shrine vicinity is periodically donebeing a living temple attracting visitors from across the globe the shrine can not be converted into a police camp said singh