The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against seven accused in a case of explosion in the Beldanga area of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
The explosion took place accidentally on January 17, 2022 when the accused were in the process of preparing iron socket bombs in the orchard behind the school, located in village Rameswarpur, Babta-II Gram Panchayat in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
“Two of the accused, Iyasuddin Sk @ Chadi and Sukchand Ali were injured in the blast, and the former succumbed to his injuries later. The duo had been fabricating the bombs, along with another accused, Mansur Ali @ Mansur Sheikh and others, behind the school when the explosion occurred,” a press statement by NIA on Wednesday said.
While the charges against Iyasuddin Sk stand abetted due to his death, the others face prosecution under various sections of IPC, Explosive Substances Act and UAPA.
The statement added that in his dying statement, Iyasuddin Sk had revealed that he had been induced to make the bombs by one Imdadul Hoque @ Imdarul Hoque @ Anaj Master, and some others. Imdadul had also provided the explosives and other bomb-making materials for the job, the NIA said.
The NIA had seized 75 live socket bombs and other incriminating materials from the crime spot. Later, on the disclosures of two other accused, identified as Masadul Hoque @ Masadul Sk and Habibur Rahaman @ Habu, the police also recovered 12 iron pipes from the spot.
“Another accused, Tahabul Sk, led the police to the recovery of 35 live iron stick bombs in two lots, on March 28 and March 31, 2022, respectively,” the statement added.
According to the NIA, all the accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to fabricate and store bombs for use in terror acts to spread fear among the local populace of Rameswarpur and to establish their dominance in the entire area.
Explosions of crude bombs have become a regular phenomenon in West Bengal politics. There is an elaborate network of manufacture of crude bombs in the State used for area domination. During the recently concluded panchayat polls, dozens of people were killed in crude bomb explosions including while manufacturing of such crude bombs. The political parties in the Opposition often target the ruling Trinamool Congress by saying that the manufacture of crude bombs is the biggest small-scale industry in the State.
