Security men patrol the deserted streets of Barobisha on Monday. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Barobisha (Alipurduar), Oct. 16: Police have claimed that an extremist group, with extortion in mind, was behind the twin blasts that rocked Barobisha under Kumargram block last evening.

“After preliminary investigations, we can confirm that the motive of the blast was extortion and members of some extremist group were definitely involved. The intention was to create panic among businessmen here,” inspector-general of police, north Bengal, K.L. Meena said today.

Meena confirmed that the third suspected bomb turned out to be a hoax.

Kumargram used to be a hub of KLO rebels and some police officers and CPM leaders believe that the militant outfit was behind yesterday’s incident. Others said extremist groups active in Assam might have caused the blasts.

Barobisha, 32 km from Alipurduar town, is close to the Bengal-Assam border.

Local businessmen have voiced their dissatisfaction with the security arrangement at the trading town. The strike called by the Barobisha Byabsayee Samiti today was a success and the streets were completely deserted even on a weekly market day.

A meeting convened by Jalpaiguri district magistrate R. Ranjit and district police chief Tripurari to calm down the traders proved ineffective. After the meet, samiti secretary Ratan Chanda said: “After yesterday’s incident, the police should have brought in sniffer dogs and run checks on each vehicle coming into the town.”

Yesterday, two bombs went off at Barobisha Market in quick succession. One person, Manoj Saha, sustained serious injuries, while a few shops were damaged.