THE response of Mamata Banerjee government to the Burdwan blast incident is intriguing, to say the least. The state police and administration seemed busier to hush-up rather than expeditiously enquiring into the network of the conspiracy.

The blast took place in a house in Khagragarh, close to Burdwan town on October 2. It was clear from the very beginning that some bombs had gone off in the rooms. Initially the police claimed that it was a ‘small blast’, nothing important. Reports came that the police and fire brigade persons were resisted by two women from entering into the room. Police found two dead bodies, and an injured person – clearly signaling that they were making bombs. Later, huge stockpiles of bombs, IED and detonators, and fire arms were recovered from the flat. There were burnt papers, containing documents which mentioned the name of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Al Qaida chief and Chechen militants. Bomb-making manual and designs of rocket launcher were also found on the spot. It was obvious enough that this is not an ordinary crime.

The response of the police, however, was stunning.  The local police detonated the recovered cache of home-made bombs and some other explosives within hours. That the bombs were detonated not defused meant a lot of intelligence information and evidence for further probe were destroyed. There was a clear attempt to obstruct any other intelligence agencies other than the state police to enter into the probe. National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was blocked and they were not allowed even to take a look at the blast site.

Even after five days, when it was clear that the blast was related to terrorist activities with a broader security threat, the state administration doggedly refused to take help of or offering such an assistance to NIA or any central agency. The state police sources linked the perpetrators of the crime to terrorist groups in Bangladesh, like Jamat-ul-Mujaheedin. Still baffling was the fact that the cases registered were initially devoid of any mention of terrorism.

Later, state CID started searches and raided places in Murshidabad and Nadia other than Burdwan. Such was the speed of this investigation that two houses were found vacant in areas close to blast site with lots of burnt papers. The criminals fled at ease, destroying evidences.

Why this dilly-dallying?  Why this attempt to sweep terrorist network under the rug?

The owner of the house in which the blast took place is a known Trinamool worker, Hasan Choudhury. He rented the rooms at high rates with recommendation from a local TMC leader Mehboob Choudhury. Mehboob, a thug of sort in the area, is infamous for notorious activities including shielding the culprits of a gang rape and murder case in Nababhat in vicinity. He also led the booth capturing in Burdwan municipal elections in 2013. He is known to be ‘close’ to District Superintendent of Police and felicitated the SP in a TMC sponsored programme.

In a room in that house was a local TMC office with a signboard of the party and flags. Just after the blast, the signboard was removed and top TMC leaders denied the existence of any such office. Mehboob and other TMC leaders threatened the local people to remain tight lipped in front of media.

Apart from these local level reasons, the ruling party in West Bengal may be apprehensive of any wide ranging inquiry fearing it may unearth unholy relationships between their leaders and criminal gangs including extremist and fundamentalist forces. Allegations of such alignment, including extremist forces from neighboring country, have already come up. During investigations into Saradha scam, it has been alleged that a TMC MP had relations with banned organisation in Bangladesh and money transactions took place to help those forces. It has also been alleged that the fundamentalist forces of the neighbouring country extended help to the TMC, particularly in border areas.

According to media reports, central agencies had severely criticised the state police and administration in their primary report. They alleged that the state police have deliberately destroyed evidences, thwarting a proper investigation. The police seemed more interested in shielding the TMC leaders. The police and administration refused to co-operate with central agencies even though the magnitude of the blast was evident.

This has given rise to demands of investigation by the NIA. Left Front chairman Biman Basu termed the blast as ‘a dangerous incident’ and demanded proper investigation. CPI(M) Polit Bureau demanded an enquiry by the NIA given the way in which the state police officials have dealt with the incident, raising doubts and questions. Thousands of people marched in the streets of Burdwan on October 7 calling for a probe by the NIA, at the call of Left Front.

Meanwhile, the BJP is trying to use this incident for communal polarisation. Surya Kanta Misra, leader of opposition in the state, has alleged that while the TMC has facilitated the extremist forces to gain ground in the state, the BJP is trying to utilise the fear psychosis for political benefit. The state government has refused to take help from central agencies and the centre too refused to initiate NIA probe, though there were provisions of doing so in case of an utterly important security concern. ‘This may be another got up game between them’, Misra commented.