Barddhaman blast case: Bengal govt will cooperate with NIA

Says the Centre has communicated that the NIA would take over the investigation. We will fully cooperate with them in all possible ways

West Bengal government today climbed down from its opposition to an NIA probe into the Barddhaman blast and said that it would fully cooperate with the central agency.

"The Centre has communicated that the NIA would take over the investigation. We will fully cooperate with them in all possible ways," West Bengal home secretary, Basudeb Banerjee, said.

Incidentally, TMC too seems to have toned down following the Centre's decision, "We were not opposed to an NIA probe. We had just said that we had faith in the state police," senior TMC leader and state education minister Partha Chatterjee said.

Sources in the government said, following the Centre's decision, top bureaucrats of the state last night met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and persuaded her that given the national and international links in the incident unearthed so far by CID, a face-off with the Centre over this would send a wrong signal.

There has already been six detentions in Assam in the case and links with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) of those involved in the blast have already surfaced. In fact, on Wednesday, West Bengal police invoked the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the four arrested accused.

Also, according to The NIA Act, 2008 Centre on its own can decide on handing over any terror related case to the NIA and state governments are legally bound to assist the central agency.

However, state government's opposition was possible rooted in the apprehension that the NIA investigation could be a further embarassment for TMC as reports have surfaced that the accused had links with local TMC leaders.

According to reports, Mehabub Rahaman, allegedly a TMC leader, was often seen in the building with party workers in the building at Khagragarh where the blast took place and the ground floor of the building was used as a temporary party office of TMC during elections.

Local TMC MLA Swapan Debnath, however, claimed that Rahaman is not associated with the party. However, TMC's opposition to an NIA probe led to attacks from the BJP that Mamata Banerjee was compromising with national security for "vote bank and appeasement politics".

There were also allegations that, initially the local police tried to downplay the incident and did not cooperate with the local NIA team when it rushed to the spot after the incident was reported on October 2.

The blast in a house in the semi-urban area of Khagragarh in Barddhaman, had killed two persons. Rajira Bibi alias Rumi belonging to Karimpur in Nadia and Amina Bibi from Lalbagh in Murshidabad - were arrested from Khagragarh. Rajira Bibi is the widow of suspected militant Shakil Ahmed, who was killed in the explosion. Amina Bibi is the wife of Hasan Saheb, who was critically injured in the blast and is under treatment.

Later a CID also arrested another person Hatij Mollah from his house at Khar Duttapa in Purbostholi in connection to the blast. Police so far has found three terror hide-outs in Barddhaman at Baburbagh, Mathpara and Badsahi Road.

By tracking call records of those detained, police yesterday, discovered that President Pranab Mukherjee's native village Kirnahar was also on terror map. Calls were made to person identified as Sheikh Kader at his Kirnahar home days before the Khagragarh blast. The inmates fled soon after the blast, locking the house from outside.