The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday night arrested Trinamool leader Saokat Molla for his alleged role in a pre-poll explosion in Bhangar that left one person dead and three others critically injured.
Sources in the NIA said Molla, who lost the Bhangar Assembly seat as a Trinamool candidate to ISF leader Naushad Siddiqui, was intercepted near Kamalgazi in Narendrapur around 10pm on Friday.
His family, however, claimed that he was formally handed over to the agency near Chingrighata on EM Bypass as part of a planned surrender.
The NIA has been on Molla’s heels for two days, and his arrest came within hours of the central agency declaring him an absconder in the Bhangar blast case.
“We will produce him before an NIA court on Saturday and seek his custody for
interrogation,” a senior NIA officer said.
Molla came under the police scanner when a crude bomb exploded in the Dakshin Bamunia village in Bhangar on the city’s southeastern fringes on March 19, ahead of the Assembly polls in Bengal.
The explosion allegedly happened while crude bombs were being manufactured.
Police recovered over 75 crude bombs and explosive materials from the site. They were allegedly stored in an abandoned house near a burial ground in Majerhat village.
An FIR was drawn up at Uttar Kashipur police station under Kolkata Police’s Bhangar division. The case was transferred to the NIA following instructions from the Union ministry of home affairs.
On Thursday, separate teams of NIA officers fanned out across eight locations with CRPF personnel in search of Molla.
In the Chunakhali area of Basanti some villagers reportedly identified Molla and raised the alarm.
