NIA, ED to revisit 10 ‘poorly probed’ cases of Bengal

However, no person was arrested in connection to the incident. Case records claimed that since the bomb makers were killed, no clue was found. The blast was termed as an incident related to “local politics”. Coincidentally, Ketugram, also in Burdwan district, is not very far from Khagragarh.

“This case of Ketugram has several similarities with the Khagragrah blast. One of these is that in both cases, the house was blown up completely. However, no investigation took place. This case prompted us to start investigation into the old explosion cases in Bengal. Now we are trying to join the dots,” said a senior ED official.

Now, the agencies have asked the Bengal police for the records of all of these cases that they feel merit an in-depth enquiry. Sources revealed that apart from the terror angle, the agencies would also look into the funding sources of these units, the expertise, the men involved and the supply chain.

The 10 cases that are being reopened have been clubbed into one and the ED has lodged a fresh FIR in this connection. The NIA, too, has formed a separate unit to probe these cases for links to the Khagragarh blast. Notably, while each of these blasts claimed lives or damaged property, they were categorised as “ordinary cases” by the Bengal police.

“We have already asked for records of similar cases and have got documents for nine cases. We have also asked for documents for the bomb seizure case registered with Parui police station in Birbhum on October 24,” said the ED official.

The police had seized over 800 bombs in a single day from an abandoned government primary health centre at Sattor village near Makra in Parui police station area.

NIA looking for owner of car found abandoned outside Simulia madrasa

The NIA officers probing the Burdwan blast and the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror conspiracy have, over the past two days, been trying to ascertain the whereabouts of a Pune resident identified as Anirban Ghosh, who is the registered owner of an abandoned Tata Nano found outside the Simulia madrasa in Burdwan.

The orange Tata Nano bearing plates with registration number WB-58-F-6943 is suspected to have been used by JMB members to flee after the October 2 blast at a workshop in Khagragarh. A team from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) found blood stains on the rear seat of the abandoned car.

The rear of the car has an Indian Army sticker on it, while an ‘Indian Artillery Centre, Nasik Road’ sticker is posted on the front windshield. NIA investigators want to question Ghosh on how the car ended up outside the Simulia madrasa, and how the army stickers were sourced. “We have been trying to summon Anirban Ghosh, a resident of Pune who bought the car in Nashik, to find out how a car registered in his name, was found abandoned in Burdwan. We have not been able to trace him for the last couple of days, but will locate him soon enough,” said an NIA source.

When the registration number was traced, it was found to actually belong to a motorcycle owned by a man in Murshidabad who is also being questioned by the NIA. This number was registered in 2006. A trace on the chassis and engine numbers on the Tata Nano revealed that it was bought in 2012, and led the NIA to Ghosh.

Investigators believe that with an Eastern Command Army base in Panagarh, the sticker might have helped JMB members avoid checks.