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  Metros   Kolkata  11 Jan 2020  Cracker blast in West Bengal: Gov slams Mamata rule

Cracker blast in West Bengal: Gov slams Mamata rule

THE ASIAN AGE. | RAJIB CHOWDHURI
Published : Jan 11, 2020, 6:24 am IST
Updated : Jan 11, 2020, 6:24 am IST

Echoing him BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha suspected the presence of either RDX or a more powerful explosive.

West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar
 West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar

Kolkata: A day after the massive explosion of seized firecrackers on the banks of river Hooghly at Naihati in North 24 Parganas when the police tried to diffuse them, West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned the callousness of the state administration under chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s rule amidst the BJP’s demand for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the incident.

On Friday, Mr Dhankhar said, “The explosion which took place was the third one. Earlier, five people were killed there. It was said that the business was going on without lice-nce. When something goes on without any licence, the responsibility falls upon two: those who are doing it and those whose task is to keep an watch on them.

Why was there lapse in watch? Where was the lack on the administration’s part?”

“Why didn’t the administration pay attention to it first? This poses a huge danger. Just see how innocent people lost their lives earlier. It calls for a deep and thorough probe.”

The governor noted, “Peace can be restored only when they would be unmasked.” Earlier, BJP national executive committee member Mukul Roy said, “It looked to be explosive in view of the magnitude of the blast. I demand an NIA probe to detect where such a huge quantity of explosive come from, how its could be kept there and how the blast took place.”

Echoing him BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha suspected the presence of either RDX or a more powerful explosive. “It is the field for stock-piling. Bombs explode less here because it is den of the terrorists. Neither the police nor the criminal investigation department can probe the case because of their limitations. So a NIA probe is the need of the hour,” he claimed.

Tags: jagdeep dhankhar