‘Aim was to kill him’: Mamata condemns attack on ‘popular’ leader Jakir

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the bomb attack on state labour minister Jakir Hossain was aimed at killing him and sought a 'proper' investigation into the incident.

"Jakir is my most popular leader. Whoever did it, their aim was to kill him. A proper investigation should be done into the incident," she said, adding that a special investigation (SIT) team had been constituted for to investigate the attack from ‘every angle.’

Hossain is among at least two dozen members of the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) party who sustained injuries in a bomb blast that took place around 9.45pm outside Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad district on Wednesday. He was shifted to a hospital in Kolkata where he remained in the intensive care unit. CM Mamata Banerjee visited the hospital to meet him.

“Hossain had to be given numerous stitches. Doctors told us that he lost a lot of blood,” TMC’s Murshidabad district unit president Abu Taher Khan told reporters. Further, he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of carrying out the attack.

Refuting the allegation, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said that Hossain could be a victim of infighting in the TMC prior to the upcoming assembly polls. "Murshidabad has become a haven for criminals," he added.

Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim also condemned the incident and demanded on behalf of the party that the culprits be reprimanded. "Around 26 of our people, including Jakir Hossain, were injured; 14 of them are serious. Police investigation is on, CM said that CID, STF and CIF have joined in. I hope the Railways will help them. On behalf of the party, we want that culprits be arrested and brought to court," he said.

People aware of the developments ruled out the terrorism angle and told Hindustan Times that the blast was a result of internal feud among the TMC.

(with agency inputs)