NIA seizes 40 improvised hand grenades from a home
Kolkata : Even as BJP pulled up West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the recent blast in Burdwan, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recovered 40 improvised hand grenades from a house in Burdwan on Thursday.
Siddhartha Nath Singh, BJP’s national secretary in charge of Bengal, made a scathing attack against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday and asked her to answer ten questions in connection with the recent blast in Burdwan in which some suspected Bangladeshi terrorist outfits were involved.
He said that from the start, the state government had been trying to subvert the investigation.
“When the investigation was handed over to NIA, they started non-cooperation with them. Who are they trying to protect? That needs to be answered,” he said.
On September 24, the Union Home department had asked the state CID to track three Bangladeshi terrorists belonging to Jamaat-ul–mujahidden operating in West Bengal.
Mamata should clarify why her government did not take any action, he said.
He alleged that Trinamool’s appeasement of a “particular community” for vote bank politics had turned Bengal into a haven for terrorists, which in turn was posing a serious threat to national security.The BJP leader said the state government kept ignoring his warnings of seven to nine madrasas on the Indo-Bangala border being used for training youths in terrorism. The Burdwan blast took place later.
Agencies investigating the Burdwan had information that the Bangladeshi operators behind the blast had Indian passport, he said.
“How did they get police clearance to obtain Indian passport? The police officials who gave them clearance certificates should be punished,” he said.
He said that last week, the BSF had detained 60 Bangladeshi nationals who were trying to sneak into West Bengal with Indian PAN cards and voter’s identity cards.
Meanwhile, The NIA recovered a sack containing 40 improvised hand grenades from a store room in a house in Burdwan where an explosion killed two people on October 2.
The Improvised Explosive Devices were recovered from the house of Rezaul Karim in Mathpara on Badsahi Road near Khagragarh.
During the search, the NIA men found some sacks from which one hand grenade fell on the floor.
National Security Guard (NSG) personnel, who are assisting the NIA in the case, were immediately called in. NSG men along with sniffer dogs found at least 40 improvised hand grenades.
The National Security Guard team camping at Burdwan is assisting the NIA investigators in safe disposal of the IEDs which are located in a thickly populated area.
The house was cordoned off by the police. This is one of the three houses found by the investigators to be used by the blast suspects besides the one where the explosion had taken place.
The state CID had earlier searched the house and found some documents.
Ambar Mukherjee
