Fresh arrest made in connection with Barddhaman blast

A fresh arrest has been made in connection with the October 2 blast at a house at Khagragarh here in which two suspected militants were killed. Hafez Mollah alias Hasan who was detained by the CID from his house at Khar Duttapa in Purbostholi, about 70 km from here yesterday, was formally arrested today, DIG (Operations), CID Dilip Adak told PTI.

Two women were arrested yesterday in connection with the blast in which involvement of terror outfits like LeT and HuJI is being suspected.

The women, Rajira Bibi alias Rumi hailing from Karimpur in Nadia and Amina Bibi hailing from Lalbagh in Murshidabad - were remanded to police custody for nine days by a local court.

Two suspected militants Shakil Ahmed and Sovan Mandal were killed and another Hasan Saheb was injured in the explosion. Rajira Bibi is the widow of Shakil Ahmed while Amina Bibi is the wife of injured Hasan Saheb who is under treatment at Barddhaman Medical College and Hospital, Barddhaman Superintendent of Police S M H Mirza said.

The two women had been detained on the day of the blast. The police is on the lookout for one Abul Kalam, a resident of Mangalkote area of the district, he said.

The investigators are on his trail after they found seven calls made to him from a mobile phone immediately after the blast.

The mobile phone from which the calls were made were seized by the police from the house after the explosion. The team is also on the lookout for another man who used to frequent the Khagragarh house on a two-wheeler, the SP said. Grenades, chemicals used in making explosives, a book on how to trigger explosion, some jihadi literature, a video on jihadi training and map of important locations in Barddhaman district were seized by the CID team from the house. A large number of watch dials, SIM cards and other tools required to make improvised explosive devices were also seized from the house, he said.

The suspected militants had rented the house a few months back and the police had also questioned the house owner Hasan Chowdhury.

A high-level composite task force has been formed by the state government to investigate the matter.

State Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee said yesterday that CID had taken over the investigation and the DGP had formed a composite task force with top officials from CID, district police, IB and Kolkata Police under the leadership of DIG CID, Banerjee said.