Bhupatinagar blast: Names of two more Trinamool leaders included in NIA charge sheet

Kolkata, July 8 (IANS) Names of two more Trinamool Congress local leaders have been included in the supplementary charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month at a special NIA court in Kolkata in connection with the Bhupatinagar blast.

The explosion in East Midnapore District of West Bengal in December 2022 killed three persons.

With the inclusion of Manab Kumar Parua and Nabakumar Panda, the total number of people named in the charge sheet has gone up to eight.

Apart from public works executive officer Parua in East Midnapore District and the party’s Patashpur chief Panda, three of the other six named in the charge sheet are local Trinamool Congress leaders in East Midnapore District Panchanan Gharai, Manobrata Jana and Balai Charan Maity.

Also named in the charge sheet are the three persons killed in the blast, namely Raj Kumar Manna, Biswajit Gayen and Buddhadeb Manna who were also local Trinamool Congress activists in East Midnapore.

All of them were shown as accused in the charge sheet after investigation revealed their involvement in the criminal conspiracy related to the bomb blast.

They were booked under various Sections of the earlier Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Explosive Substances (ED) Act.

To recall, the NIA sleuths and the accompanying Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel were attacked by local Trinamool Congress activists in April this year while they were returning to Kolkata after arresting Maity and Jana.

The windscreen of the NIA’s vehicle was also smashed and one officer was injured.

After the blast the West Bengal police started the investigation in the matter, later the probe was handed over to NIA following a Calcutta High Court. The NIA took over the investigation on June 4, 2023.