Burdwan blast case: Mamata Banerjee promises every possible help to NIA to carry out investigations

KOLKATA: Keeping aside her previous objection to probe into Burdwan blast case by the National Investigation Agency ( NIA), chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday assured the national security advisor Ajit Doval of all sorts of help and co-operation from her government to help the central agency to carry out their investigations.

Doval on Monday met the chief minister at "Nabanna", the state administrative headquarters hours after visiting the blast site at Khagragarh and sought her support for the NIA which is in the midst of it’s investigation.

According to reports, the chief minister assured Doval of her government’s full cooperation to the Centre in fighting terrorism. Talking to reporters after Doval’s meeting with the chief minister, Special Secretary (Home) Prakash Mishra said that "the Centre and state are together on the issue of fighting terrorism. Burdwan blast is a terror issue. This case will be taken to its logical end."

Before meeting the chief minister Doval inspected the site of explosion, in which militant outfit Jamaatu l - Mujahideen Bangladesh ( JMB) is believed to be involved, that occurred in a rented house in Khagragarh in Burdwan on October 2 killing two people. Doval, accompanied by National Security Guard (NSG) chief JN Choudhury, NIA Director General Sharad Kumar and Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Asif Ibrahim, reached Khagragarh this morning and inspected the blast site.

They spent more than half an hour at the site amid tight security. It is Kumar who had visited the blast site on October 24. Six persons including two women have so far been arrested in connection with the blast case. Kumar on October 24, had also visited Beldanga in Murshidabad district where JMB activists had managed to set up their hideout. NIA investigation reveals that JMB activists had launched their operation in West Bengal in 2010 from Beldanga and Lalgola in Murshidabad district.

Initially, they had just 15 men with them, but later the terror outfit had managed to recruit 190 people. Mamata Banerjee’s government is facing sharp criticism from it’s opposition for the government’s reported move to frustrate NIA probe. It is alleged that the state police and CID which was asked by Mamata government to probe the blast case, did not cooperate with the NIA immediately after the Central agency took charge of the probe on October 10. But on Monday, Mamata herself assured the agency of all sorts of support from her government.