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1 killed, 5 injured in explosion in Bengal; BJP-TMC blame game follows
Both the BJP and the the TMC have accused each other of resorting to violence in the run up to the assembly elections in West Bengal.
A 25-year-old man was killed and at least five others were injured in a bomb explosion on Friday night in poll-bound West Bengal’s Gosaba area in South 24 Parganas, triggering a blame game between the ruling Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Police have arrested two persons in the case, said officials.
Police claimed that the men were making bombs in a hideout at Gosaba when the explosion took place. The dead man has been identified as one Sovan Debnath.
“We have already arrested two persons and a case has been initiated in which the injured persons have been named as accused,” said a senior police officer.
Assembly elections in the state would kick off from March 27 and would be held in eight phases. The contest is widely-anticipated to be bi-polar between the TMC and the BJP. Both the parties have accused each other of resorting to violence in the run up to the polls.
“Political violence has hit the peak. TMC-goons have now started attacking with bombs,” tweeted Arvind Menon, BJP’s national general secretary.
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Local TMC leaders, however, denied the charge and alleged that those injured the blast were BJP workers, who were making bombs when the explosion took place.
Earlier on February 17, a deputy minister in the Bengal government, Jakir Hossain was injured along with 22 others in an explosion on a railway platform in Murshidabad district. Later, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took up the case.
