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NIA files charge sheet against 2 for Nimtita station blast
The Nimtita railway station attack was carried out to derail the assembly polls held in March-April, the NIA said in the charge sheet filed at a Kolkata court. The
KOLKATA: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed the charge sheet against two accused in the Nimtita railway station IED blast case in which Jakir Hossain, who was then the state’s deputy labour minister and several others were severely injured.
The attack was carried out to derail the assembly polls held in March-April, NIA said in the charge sheet filed at a Kolkata court. The two accused have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substance Act and several sections of the Indian Penal Code. Both are residents of Suti in Murshidabad.
The central investigating agency took over the investigation on March 2.
Hossain sustained severe injuries along with 21 Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers around 9.45 pm at Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad district. Hossain was supposed to board the Kolkata-bound Teesta-Torsha Express when the blast took place at the station platform.
This was the first attack on a Bengal minister in recent history. Hossain, a businessman and popular leader, recovered after months of treatment.
The charge sheet was filed against Sahidul Islam, 35, a resident of Aurangabad Moulavi Para in Suti and Abu Samad, 37, a resident of Raghunathpur located in the same region. They were charged under sections 120B, 201, 326 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code; sections 16 and 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections 3 and 4 of the Explosives Substance Act.
“Investigation has revealed that the accused persons hatched a criminal conspiracy to kill Jakir Hossain and his supporters in order to strike terror in the minds of the people and to derail the impending assembly election. Sahidul Islam had procured materials from local shops for making the IED and held meetings with Abu Samad for the final selection of the site for executing the conspiracy. The accused persons also unsuccessfully tried to destroy the phones used by them for misleading the investigation agency. Further investigation is on,” NIA said in a statement.
