NIA probe sought in cracker factory blast in Bengal

The Calcutta High Court was on Monday petitioned for an NIA probe into the cracker factory explosion in West Bengal's West Midnapore district that claimed 12 lives.

Filed before the bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, the public interest litigation (PIL) also sought compensation of Rs.50 lakh each for the families of the victims.

Contending that the May 6 explosion in the cracker factory in Pingla in the district might be a terror act, the petitioner argued for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

"The NIA probe into the October 2 Burdwan blast revealed how the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) had plotted to destabilise the government in Bangladesh. The state police which is probing the Pingla blast don't have the capability to unearth such a conspiracy," said R.S. Chatterjee, counsel for the petitioner.

"Only the NIA is capable of finding if the Pingla blast too is a terror act and some militant outfit is involved. So we have sought a probe by the NIA," said Chatterjee.

"Most of the victims who died in the blast were children. Some were as young as 13-14 years. So we also have demanded their families be paid a compensation of Rs.50 lakh each," the counsel said.

The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.

Alleging that the factory was used to manufacture and distribute bombs, both the BJP and the Congress have been demanding a NIA probe into the incident.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist led Left Front has alleged that the factory was being used by the ruling Trinamool Congress for manufacturing bombs.

However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as well as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) claimed that the premises in which the explosion occurred was a firecracker factory.