Burdwan blast case: NIA, West Bengal police conduct searches

New Delhi: The NIA, along with West Bengal Police, on Tuesday conducted searches at various places in the state in connection with the 2 October explosion at a house in Burdwan town in which the involvement of a terror group is suspected. Searches were conducted at various places including the rented residence of deceased Shakil in Beldanga, Murshidabad in West Bengal by the team of the National Investigation Agency and West Bengal CID. [caption id=“attachment_1756667” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Certain documents and metal pieces used in making IEDs have been recovered. A thorough search has also been initiated at the Simulia madrassa in Burdwan where the accused were allegedly radicalised in jihadi ideology. The questioning of arrested accused by the NIA continued today in cooperation with WB CID and based on preliminary investigation, three persons were summoned in Chennai for questioning by the NIA, an official statement said. Joint teams of West Bengal CID, the NIA and central intelligence agencies are interrogating the three persons who were arrested following the blast – two women, Razia and Amina, and Badrul Alam Molla. The case pertains to an explosion at a rented house at Khagragarh on October 2 in which two persons, believed to be members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, died. The matter is being investigated by the NIA’s Kolkata branch after it registered a case on Friday to probe the matter. The Centre decided to entrust the investigation to the agency without taking the consent of West Bengal government by invoking a special provision in the NIA Act that allows it to initiate an NIA probe into terror cases anywhere in the country. Section 6(5) of the NIA Act, 2008, empowers the Centre to suo motu direct the agency to investigate a scheduled offence committed anywhere in India. The decision to hand over the case to NIA was taken by the Centre in view of the international ramifications of the case following suspicions that some Bangladeshis might be involved in the incident. PTI