The grieving mother of a 10-year-old girl who had been killed in a bomb attack in Nadia’s Kaliganj on June 23, has urged the chief minister to instruct police to recover all bombs hidden at Molandi village to prevent further loss of innocent lives.
Sabina Sheikh requested Mamata Banerjee to give the police a free hand to carry out their “duty”.
“I urge Mamata Banerjee to give your nod to the police to recover the remaining bombs at Molandi. Don’t keep the hands of police tied, allow them to do their duty. Unless these bombs are recovered, they might be used to kill many other Tamannas or people who may not vote for your party,” she added.
Tamanna Khatun, 10, had been killed in the bomb attack by alleged Trinamool Congress supporters at Molandi on June 23.
Sabina expressed her deep concern over what she described as inadequate police action, pointing to the massive quantity of explosives used by goons on June 23 — the day her daughter lost her life in a bomb attack while votes were being counted for the Kaliganj by-election that the Trinamool Congress won with a margin of over 50,000 votes.
She also accused Trinamool leaders and supporters of using socket bombs to intimidate villagers, particularly those aligned with Opposition parties.
Speaking to reporters, Sabina said: “It is the chief minister who can save lives by ending the reign of dominating politics with bomb attacks. The lives of several other Tamannas are in danger because of the hidden bombs stockpiled in various areas.”
On Tuesday, the police discovered about 20 more socket bombs in a ditch near the residence of Anwar Sheikh, one of the prime accused in the Tamanna murder case. Anwar is the elder brother of Gawal Sheikh, local Trinamool booth committee president, who is also a key accused in the case.
According to the police and local sources, the bombs were found during an area sanitisation operation conducted with the help of a sniffer dog. The explosives were safely collected and placed in a secure container.
Additional superintendent of police (rural) Uttam Ghosh said: “We have recovered about two buckets of bombs during a search drive at Molandi. More searches will continue in the area.”
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPM, continued its demonstrations demanding the arrest of all the accused named in the FIR.
Out of 24 individuals named by Sabina in her complaint, the police have so far arrested only nine, including Gawal Sheikh, his three brothers, his son, and three nephews. The remaining 15 accused are absconding.
Sabina remained unconvinced about the police action and said she would start a hunger strike unless all the accused persons were arrested and the village was cleared of bombs.