West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has called for an "intense expert probe" in Naihati illegal-factory blast that killed four people on Friday, following the BJP’s demand for an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), suspecting a possible terror link to the factory, which the party claimed, was illegally making "crude bombs" in the garb of firecrackers.
Dhankar tagged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in his tweet seeking "fixing of accountability", hours after the arrest of the factory-owner, Noor Hossain and before a visit to the blast site by the forensic experts.
"@MamataOfficial Several deaths in blasts at factory at Masjidpara, Naihati has pained and shocked me. Allegations that crude bombs were being made in illegal factory warrants intense expert probe. Accountability of all in the administration needs to be fixed promptly," Dhankhar tweeted on Saturday morning.
Reacting to the tweet, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Tapas Roy said, "They (Centre) may ask for anything, a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation as well. Let them go ahead if they can. We have no problem."
On Friday, BJP Lok Sabha
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member from Barrackpore, Arjun Singh, had demanded a probe by the NIA, alleging that the factory was a cover for manufacturing crude bombs that are often used during violence in the state. He even hinted at a possible terror link to the factory.
"I visited the spot. There are several illegal factories in the area. These people actually manufacture crude bombs under the garb of making firecrackers. It is very likely that these units have terror links like the Khagragarh incident and needs to be probed by the NIA," said Singh.
Trinamool Congress minister and the party’s district unit president Jyotipriyo Mullick rubbished Singh’s claim and said, "He should rather ask US President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...to order a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
On Saturday, Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Md Salim also accused the state government of shielding bomb makers. "People of Bengal live with insecurity," he said.
In October 2014, a kaboom in a house at Khagragarh in Burdwan town, about 100 km from Kolkata, exposed a network of Bangladeshi jihadi elements who were running an arms and explosives factory in the state.
The owner of the factory involved in the Friday blast was arrested from the Amdanga area in the same district.
Local people blocked a road on Saturday demanding a crackdown on all fireworks factories operating illegally in the area. The protest was called off after the top brass of the district police assured to look into the matter.