KOLKATA: Chief of the Opposition and BJP legislator Suvendu Adhikari on Monday demanded an NIA probe into the blast at an unlawful firecracker manufacturing unit in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, that claimed 9 lives. The saffron get together members staged a walkout from the meeting on Monday, protesting in opposition to the incident that occurred a day earlier than.
“Earlier than all of the proof is destroyed, the state authorities should instantly hand over the probe to the NIA. We’ve additionally filed a PIL earlier than the Calcutta Excessive Courtroom,” Adhikari stated whereas chatting with reporters outdoors the Home. The Centre can not suo motu hand over the probe to the NIA except sections of the Explosives Act are utilized to the costs, he stated.
The BJP needed to maneuver an adjournment movement, demanding dialogue on the incident within the Home however Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay allowed the get together solely to learn it. Earlier than the walkout, BJP MLAs raised slogans within the Home for 10 minutes, demanding a press release from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the incident.
The saffron get together legislators, together with Chief Whip Manoj Tigga and Shankar Ghosh, held the protest and tore papers containing the record of Home proceedings whereas leaving. Adhikari demanded the resignation from the CM, claiming that Banerjee “remained silent for hours after the blast”. The BJP chief additionally stated the depth of the blast was so enormous that the concrete roofs of the neighbourhood homes have been severely broken.
“The huge depth of the blast was because of RDX explosive,” he claimed. The depth of the explosion was so excessive that over 50 homes within the neighbourhood have been partially broken and physique elements of these killed within the incident have been discovered on roofs of a number of buildings. The proprietor of the unlawful firecracker manufacturing unit and his son have been additionally killed within the blast.
Adhikari demanded compensation from the state for the households of these killed within the blast. One particular person has been arrested in reference to the incident, the police stated. Adhikari stated the native police “knew every thing in regards to the unlawful manufacturing unit however didn’t take any motion”. In the course of the day, he additionally led a delegation of BJP MLAs to the blast web site at Nilganj beneath the Duttapukur Police Station limits and interacted with native folks, police personnel current on the spot and get together activists there.
The BJP chief additionally claimed that when an analogous blast came about at Egra, the chief minister had stated {that a} panel can be fashioned beneath the chief secretary to take measures in order that these incidents don’t recur. “What occurred to the measures that the state authorities was imagined to take?” he requested.
In Could, twelve folks have been killed in an explosion at an unlawful firecracker manufacturing unit in Purba Medinipur district’s Egra. He additionally claimed that every one those that died within the blast have been linked to the ruling Trinamool Congress get together. Echoing Adhikari, BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar stated solely an NIA probe will unravel “whether or not the blast was the fallout of the ruling Trinamool Congress aiding ‘jihadi’ forces for vote financial institution politics”.
“The character of the blast means that ‘jihadi’ forces from throughout the border may be concerned within the Duttapukur incident. Preliminary stories say folks from Murshidabad have been concerned in making ‘bombs’ within the fireworks unit. Who’re these folks and what was the character of their job? Solely NIA can convey out the reality,” he added.
