Bengal Police detonated bombs found in Burdwan house to help accused: IB report
In a report to the Union Home Ministry, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has pointed out that the West Bengal authorities were involved in destruction of evidence in the Burdwan bomb blast case in which local terror elements reportedly conspired with Bangladesh’s terror outfits.
The IB report has specially pointed to detonation of a large consignment of bombs recovered from the house in Burdwan in a bid to destroy evidence. The bombs were taken to the banks of Damodar River and detonated there by the local police.
The local police had claimed that it was dangerous to keep the explosives and hence they were detonated. They also blamed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and said there were no instructions to preserve the bombs.
However, the IB report pointed out: “The bomb disposal squad was present at the scene of the blast in the house in Burdwan and could have contained any explosion if that is what the local police were worried about.”
Citing standard operating procedures, the NIA has said that evidence has to be preserved and police officials who detonated the bombs could be prosecuted for destruction of evidence.
The interrogation of two women arrested from the Burdwan house by IB and NIA has revealed that the “communication details between local leaders and their ploy to target the Government of Bangladesh were being covered up.”
After questioning of some suspects, the central agencies have gathered that the accused at the spot were “aided” in destroying the evidence.
The IB and the NIA have concluded that the local police wanted to make the incident look like a cylinder blast and burn down all documents linking local leaders to the Jamaat-e-Islami which was planning to use West Bengal as a breeding ground to target the Awami league.
Non-cooperation with central agencies and rejecting a probe into the incident by NIA despite national and international ramifications has been cited in the report as proof that there was an attempt to cover up the issue.
The State Government not only ignored the IB alert about the JuM’s link to the Saradha scam but also coached the accused not to reveal anything during the investigations by the NIA, said the report.
According to Intelligence estimates, at least 35 key operatives of the Bangladesh-based terror group JuM(B) have been taking shelter in West Bengal following a crackdown on the outfit by the Sheikh Hasina Government.
Members of JuM(B) are suspected to be active in Murshidabad, Malda, Burdwan and Nadia in West Bengal and certain areas of Assam. The Central agencies have pinpointed JuM(B) and its leaders as the masterminds behind the major terror plot.
The agencies are now investigating the motive behind the storage of the large amounts of explosives for fabrication of bombs from the house in Burdwan where two persons were killed on October 2. The larger conspiracy and design of the outfit is also under probe.
The agencies here are also seeking cooperation from the National Security Intelligence (NSI) of Bangladesh. Interrogation of the three accused in the case and analysis of about a dozen SIM cards from the spot has revealed that the local operatives were in regular touch with their masterminds in Bangladesh.
The IB has shared the details of the Burdwan probe with NSI and the latter has provided the call detail records of the 12 SIM cards recovered from the Burdwan blast site. Security along the Indo-Bangladesh border has been beefed up to ensure that the members of JuM(B) do not flee the country. The agencies have also requested Bangladesh to step up vigil on their side of the border.
According to Intelligence estimates here, JuM(B) has links with the Al-Qaeda and banned Students Islamic Movement of India. The IB has, meanwhile, issued an alert saying that several Jamaat-e-Islami militants may try to flee West Bengal in the wake of investigations in the Burdwan blast. The IB has specifically warned that the operatives may try and enter Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam.
Meanwhile, the NIA team conducted searches at the residence of arrested accused Badre Alam in Burdwan and seized a computer from the ground floor shop of the blast site. The agency also collected swabs for explosives from the vehicle seized from a madrassa.