The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday seized a sack containing about 40 improvised explosive devices from the house of a suspect wanted in connection with the Bardhaman blast on October 2.
“The NIA officers are being assisted by the National Security Guard team in safe disposal of the devices, as the house is located in a thickly-populated area,” said a senior NIA official. “A hunt has been launched for the suspect, who went missing after the blast.”
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The suspect’s house, which has been cordoned off for gathering forensic evidence, is located close to the building where the explosion took place, killing two alleged members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.
On Wednesday, the NIA had searched the residence and shop belonging to the accused, Hashem Moulla, in Bardhaman, lifted swabs of explosive traces from a vehicle belonging to the owner of the house where the blast took place and seized a laptop. The agency also summoned another suspect from Birbhum and seized a computer from a shop there.
According to agency sources, the Jamaat extremists involved in the case were part of a larger conspiracy to “destabilise” the incumbent Sheikh Hasina-led Bangladesh government. Some of the arrested persons have turned out to be from Bangladesh. “One of those killed in the October 2 blast [Subhan] was also a Bangladeshi national,” said an officer.
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