Explosives in TMC leader home go off - Second blast in Malda in 8 days, village near Bangla border

The damaged hut of Trinamul leader Kamal Sheikh at Bajeyaptipara in Malda district. (Surajit Roy)

TT, Malda, Oct. 13: Crude bombs stocked in the house of a Trinamul leader went off in a Malda village close to the Bangladesh border yesterday, barely a week after an accidental blast in the same district injured three persons.

The explosions have happened at a time the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing a blast in Burdwan that has thrown up links with the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.

Police in Malda said it was too early to speak of any Bangla link in the blast yesterday evening but as Bajeyaptipara village was just 10km from the international border, and given what had happened in Burdwan, all angles would be probed.

The village is 40km from Malda town. The police have arrested Islamatara Biwi, wife of Kamal Sheikh in whose house the low-intensity explosives were stored. Local Trinamul leaders have said that Kamal, who is absconding, was a Trinamul leader.

Based on preliminary investigation, the police have come to know that there are two factions of Trinamul active in Bajeyaptipara and the surrounding areas of Kaliachak-III block.

“Both groups often fight each other. Sheikh heads one group and he had stored the crude bombs in a hut in Bajeyaptipara. Yesterday, he was trying to get the bombs out for some reason when some of them exploded,” a senior police officer said. “There has been no injury or casualty but a portion of the hut has been damaged.”

On October 5, crude bombs had exploded at a mango orchard in Narendrapur village of Englishbazar police station. The police said the crude bombs that were made with cricket balls and were stuffed in small steel containers were supposed to be smuggled into Bangladesh.

“Terrorist outfits and radical organisations in Bangladesh use such low-intensity bombs to create panic in crowded places. There are chances that these bombs are smuggled into Bangladesh,” an intelligence officer had said after the October 5 blast.

After yesterday’s blast, the police are exploring all these factors.

“The tussle between the two factions of Trinamul is an open secret but considering the recent incident in Burdwan (the blast on October 2) and the proximity of the village with the border, we are not ruling out other possibilities. We are in search of Sheikh and we will interrogate his wife, who is in custody,” said a police officer.

Malda police chief Prasun Banerjee said: “We are investigating the case and we have arrested Kamal Sheikh’s wife. Raids are on to arrest the person (Sheikh) as he is absconding.”

Ismatara was produced in court today and remanded in police custody for seven days.

Satyajit Banerjee, the deputy inspector-general of police, Malda range, today said the police were yet to get a “clear picture”. “We are in touch with other agencies and we are exchanging information. There are certain probabilities that might have led to the blasts. We are exploring every angle and raids are being conducted to arrest those involved in these cases,” he said.

Moazzem Hossain, the Malda district Trinamul president, said the party was strong in Bajeyaptipara and its adjoining villages. “But after yesterday’s incident, we have asked the police to take stringent steps against troublemakers and those who have stored bombs.”