Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime, bomb-making had become a ‘cottage industry’ in West Bengal. Bhattacharya’s remarks come in the wake of a blast at an illegal firecracker factory on Tuesday in Khadikul village of Purba Medinipur’s Egra town. The explosion claimed 12 lives and left several injured.
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Bhattacharya said, “Before 2007, bombs were generally found in Kolkata and adjoining districts. But now they can be found across the state. In 2011 (when the TMC came to power in the state), Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had assured that the people of West Bengal will get freedom from the terror of bombs. However, during her tenure in the past 12 years, the use of bombs has increased in different parts of Bengal. Under the Trinamool Congress regime, bomb-making has become a cottage industry in the state.”
The BJP leader also claimed that in the past two years many children have died and were injured in bomb explosions in the five districts of West Bengal. “The chief minister and home minister of the state (Mamata Banerjee) will have to take responsibility for these incidents,” he added.
Talking about the blast at the illegal cracker factory in Egra, Bhattacharya said, “After the blast, the owner of the factory was given a a safe passage by the administration so that he could flee to Cuttack. With his death, a lot of important information also got suppressed.”
Krishnapada Bag alias Bhanu, the owner of the illegal factory where the blast took place, was the key accused in the case. He managed to flee the scene after the explosion but was later traced to a nursing home in Cuttack, where he was undergoing treatment for his burn injuries. On Friday, he succumbed to his injuries.
Referring to his party’s demand for a probe by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) into the blast, the BJP leader said, “The chief minister had said that she had no reservations against an NIA investigation into the incident but the police did not add the sections of Explosives Act in the FIR that was registered in connection with the blast. So, the NIA can not start an investigation. This administration has failed to control such incidents. After Bagtui, the chief minister had said that within 15 days all explosives would be confiscated. But, that was not happened.“
“During the TMC regime, the democratic environment of the state has been ruined. People have to raise their voice against the bomb industry for the sake of law and order and democracy of the state,” he added.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
