37 of the 39 IEDs were detonated on the bank of the river Damodar. Two IEDs were defused and saved for forensic tests later. (Press Trust of India photo)
In West Bengal's Burdwan, central agencies probing the October 2 blast, today detonated 37 of the 39 Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs they found at a house that the state police had searched and sealed eight days ago. The opposition now wants to know how did the police miss IEDs that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) found at first shot.
"When you go into investigation for finding the evidence, you will find them. If you go with the intention to hide and destroy, then you will not. The CID had gone with that purpose because the links were quite visible between TMC and Jihadi groups," said BJP's Siddharthnath Singh.
Biman Bose of the CPM said, "It indicates that the CID of Bengal had good track record in earlier days. Now because of the TMC's politicization of this entire police force...they are now failing to track the incidents."
But chief minister Mamata Banerjee, defending her forces, said "Our police has done a good job."
"There can be no compromise on terrorism. We have no problem with NIA probe. We just want the Centre to consult us before taking any decision. It was Ashtami when the Burdwan incident took place. Lakhs of people were celebrating Durga Puja. Our police managed the situation well," she said in Kolkata. Ms Banerjee also tried to put the ball in the Centre's court, saying, borders are manned by Central agencies like the Border Security Force (BSF) or Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). "They are responsible for infiltration," she said.
The IEDs were found at a house on Burdwan's Badshahi Road. It is less than a kilometer away from the site of the October 2 blast. After two women arrested from that blast site had told interrogators about this house, the state police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) searched the house on October 7, found some papers and then sealed it.
The NSG is not resting on its laurels. This afternoon, they were back at Badshahi Road to search two adjoining rooms. Five or six men who lived here have long fled, including one Rezaul Sheikh - all terror suspects with links to the men involved with October 2 blast.
The NIA's search in Burdwan is still on. Tomorrow, they may shift focus to neighbouring Murshidabad.