At least one person was killed and two others seriously injured in a bomb blast at Paharpur village in Chanchol Block of Malda district even as the police acting on a tip off unearthed 100 crude bombs from a toilet inside a house at Hajinagar a few miles away.
The incidents took place on Tuesday, a top police officer said adding investigations were on to find a link “if any” between MP blasts or lucknow encounter and the Malda incident since the district bordering Bangladesh had of late earned notoriety in habouring cross-border terrorists and promoting terror related activities including fake currency racket and opium smuggling.
Important locations in Bengal like NSI Airport and industrial and religious places had already been put on
high alert after the lucknow incident top officials in Kolkata said. The deceased was identified as Joy Pandey. The two persons who were critically injured and were admitted to Malda Medical College and Hospital.
Elsewhere at Hajinagar the police recovered at least 100 crude bombs from inside a toilet of a house, Additional Superintendent of Police Dipak Sarkar who led a large police contingent to the house said adding four people, including the owner of the house had been arrested. The bombs were kept inside nylon bags and hidden in a toiled the police said.
It is not the first time that Malda has hit the headlines. Situated on the junction of Bihar, Jharkhand and Bangladesh Malda had over the past few years earned notoriety in trans-border terrorism, gun-running, fake currency racket and communal violence. In 2016 a large mob shouting communal slogans had ransacked a police station at Kaliachak and torched BSF vehicles.
In May 2016, at least four persons were killed and many others injured in a bomb blast at Jainpur village. The blast allegedly occurred at local Trinamool Congress leader’s house.