National Security Adviser Ajit Doval (second from left) inspects the blast site in Burdwan.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval - who visited West Bengal regarding the Burdwan blast case today - is believed to have expressed displeasure that a jihadi hub from Bangladesh has mushroomed in the state without the knowledge of the Mamata Banerjee government. Sources said he gave Ms Banerjee a tough message. Bengal, he reportedly said, could not turn a blind eye to terror.
Mr Doval's first stop was Burdwan's Khagragarh - the site of a recent blast and the death of two terror suspects, which blew the lid off the terror network in the state. Later, he met the Chief Minister.
Prakash Mishra, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs who accompanied Mr Doval, said the Bengal government has promised to cooperate with the investigation. The state government had agreed to an investigation into the Burdwan incident by the National Investigation Agency, or NIA, with considerable reluctance.
Mr Doval's visit comes in the background of a bitter war of words between the BJP - fresh from electoral successes in Bengal - and the ruling Trinamool Congress over the Burdwan incident. The BJP has accused Ms Bannerjee and the Trinamool of going soft on terror and playing down the issue.
Ms Banerjee claims the police have done a good job in Burdwan, but the Opposition and security point to many flaws. The most glaring - missing 39 crude bombs during their search at a house near the blast site, which were later found by the NIA.
The dead terror suspects allegedly had links to the Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh - a banned terror group working to destabilise the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh.
The NIA has said all four persons arrested in the case are members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. The accused were preparing crude bombs to transport them to Bangladesh for possible terror attacks, it said.
A dossier being prepared by the Centre will be shared with Dhaka, which had sought details on the case.