The girl’s mother grieves at her home on Sunday. Picture by Mehedi Hedaytullah

Islampur, Jan. 17: The 12-year-old daughter of a CPM leader was killed and two family members were injured in a bomb attack in an Islampur village last night, hours before the girl’s father was arrested for his alleged involvement in a month-old murder case.

The victim, Nilima Khatoon, a student of Class VI of a high madarsa, was the daughter of Tamizuddin. The SFI blocked NH31 for an hour from 2.30pm today in protest. One person has been arrested.

The CPM leader, who had taken shelter in a BSF camp after the incident, was handed over to police by the border guards. He was named an accused along with 124 others in an FIR after Congress worker Omar Ehsan was murdered in the first week of December.

Tamizuddin, escorted by the police, however, attended the funeral of his daughter today. Four persons had been arrested earlier in this case.

The police said a gang of criminals armed with guns and bombs raided Tamizuddin’s house at Menkari village, 25km from here, around 7.30pm yesterday.

Debaru Mohammed, the CPM leader’s brother, and his wife who were having dinner at the time of incident, suffered serious injuries by splinters of the bomb. The couple have been admitted to Islampur Subdivisional Hospital.

Tamizuddin’s family members have lodged an FIR naming 33 people for the last night’s attack.

Since this morning, the CPM’s youth and student wings staged demonstrations in front of Islampur police station. The DYFI and the SFI have called a strike in educational institutions in Islampur block tomorrow.

Swapan Guha Niyogi, the zonal secretary of the CPM, blamed the criminals backed by the Congress for the incident. They had been threatening Tamizuddin with dire consequences for the past few days, he said. The police had been given 24 hours to arrest the culprits. “If the police fail, we shall launch a movement.”

Niyogi alleged that the police had failed to take action against the Congress-sponsored goons who had been creating a reign of terror in the area for the past two months. He said arresting Tamizuddin on a day his daughter was cremated was “inhuman” on the part of the police.

Kanailal Agarwal, a Pradesh Congress Committee leader, however, denied the involvement of his party in the attack. “It is a sequel to a feud within the CPM. They are now trying to pass the blame on us simply for political reasons. An impartial inquiry can reveal the truth,” Agarwal said.

The subdivisional police officer of Islampur, Indra Chakraborty, said they were conducting raids to arrest the culprits. “One person has been arrested. The situation though tense is under control.”