The recovery of explosives continues unabated at Molandi village in Nadia’s Kaliganj, where 10-year-old Tamanna Khatun lost her life in a bomb attack on June 23, the day the Kaliganj bypoll results came out.
On Wednesday, police defused 38 socket bombs, including those recovered on Tuesday and the ones found buried at a bamboo grove on Wednesday.
Wednesday's seizure comes less than 24 hours after police recovered around 20 socket bombs from a ditch near the house of Anowar Sheikh, an accused named in the FIR related to Tamanna's murder.
Anowar is one of the three brothers of Trinamool booth committee president Gawal Sheikh. Currently, all four men, among the 24 named in the FIR, are behind bars.
The fresh finds on Wednesday vindicated Tamanna's mother Sabina Sheikh's claim that bombs were hidden everywhere in the area and that the cops were not doing enough to recover them as the accused were affiliated to the ruling party. The bomb attack was a part of Trinamool's victory procession. Sabina has repeatedly said that bombs were targeted at their house as theirs was a family known to support the CPM.
Villagers have demanded that the search operations carry on till the entire area is completely sanitised.
With pressure mounting on the police to locate hidden explosives, Sabina accused authorities of negligence and said Molandi village had turned into a "bed of bombs".
Sabina also slammed the police for searching for bombs at her home on Tuesday. Other villagers also saw it as a conspiracy to imply that explosives planted by someone in her own family had killed Tamanna. An angry Sabina said: “This is a big game plan.”
Sensing the mood of villagers, the police on Wednesday deployed drones fitted with bomb detectors to scan several areas of the village but no new explosives were detected after the initial haul.
Additional superintendent of police (rural) Uttam Ghosh underlined the search with drone cameras.
"The drive will further continue to sanitise the area,” he said.
To strengthen security and pre-empt further trouble, the police have started installing CCTV cameras in vulnerable pockets of the village.
“The process of installing CCTV cameras has begun. We have identified some trouble-prone spots and plan to install CCTV cameras there. Round-the-clock monitoring will be done in those areas,” Ghosh added.
In a significant administrative move, the government has decided to establish a police camp at Molandi village, close to Sabina's home. According to a senior official of Krishnanagar police district, the camp would start functioning from next week at the house of local resident Badsha Mondal.
“Considering the magnitude of the situation, this camp became a necessity as the nearest existing Meera outpost is around 10km away from Molandi. A huge police force is already stationed at the village. We will deploy more personnel to man the camp and take care of the villagers,” the official said.
Adhir meets Sabina
Senior Congress leader and former MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury visited Sabina Sheikh at her residence on Wednesday and extended his full legal support in her quest for justice for her daughter. Speaking to reporters, he condemned the bomb attack that killed the child and the prevailing situation in the village. “Molandi has become a devil’s village where a little child like Tamanna had to sacrifice her life. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee should immediately visit Molandi and meet Tamanna's bereaved parents to hear their grievances personally. She must come and talk to them personally,” Adhir said.
Smuggler killed
A Bangladeshi smuggler was shot dead in retaliatory firing by Border Security Force personnel of the South Bengal Frontier late Tuesday night after a group of smugglers attacked the jawans near the Halderpara border outpost of the 32nd battalion. According to BSF officers, the jawans, while on surveillance duty, were suddenly assaulted by the intruders allegedly smuggling goods across the border.
"Despite facing life-threatening aggression, the jawans showed considerable restraint. However, they were compelled to open fire in self-defence, successfully thwarting the smuggling attempt," a BSF spokesperson in Calcutta said.
The Bangladeshi smuggler was rushed to Krishnaganj Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. He remains unidentified. A BSF jawan, who was injured during the confrontation, is also receiving treatment at the Krishnaganj facility.