In a significant development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) apprehended two crucial conspirators associated with the December 2022 Bhupatinagar blast incident despite facing resistance from an unruly crowd in West Bengal’s East Medinipore district. The confrontation resulted in injuries to an NIA officer and damage to an official vehicle.
The individuals, Balai Charan Maity and Manobrata Jana, were detained following extensive searches at five locations, including Jana’s residence, where residents attempted to obstruct the NIA team conducting the raid early Saturday. This operation was part of the investigation into the Bhupatinagar blast case, which claimed three lives in December 2022.
According to the anti-terror agency, one NIA team member sustained minor injuries, and their vehicle was vandalized by some miscreants in the crowd who assaulted them. “The hostile crowd attempted to impede the NIA team and its security detail from proceeding towards Bhupatinagar police station to carry out the arrest formalities. NIA has filed a complaint at the local police station regarding this incident,” stated the NIA in a released statement. Manobrata Jana and the other arrested individual, Balai Charan Maity, were found to have conspired to manufacture and detonate crude bombs with the intention of spreading terror.
Three individuals lost their lives in the December 2022 explosion at the residence of Rajkumar Manna in Naruabilla village, East Medinipur district. “Manna himself sustained serious injuries in the blast, along with two others, Biswajit Gayen and Buddhadeb Manna. All three succumbed to their injuries later.”
One NIA team member suffered a minor injury and the agency’s official vehicle was also damaged as some miscreants in the crowd assaulted them. The aggressive crowd tried to stop the NIA team and its security component from moving towards the Bhupatinagar police station to… https://t.co/A3qgH6CjbD
— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2024
Initially, the state police filed an FIR on December 3, 2022, against the three deceased men involved in the explosion, but did not apply the provisions of the Explosive Substances Act. Subsequently, a writ petition was filed before the Calcutta High Court, requesting the invocation of relevant sections of the Act and the transfer of the case to NIA.
As per the High Court order dated March 21, 2023, NIA assumed control of the case on June 4, 2023, and re-registered it under various sections of the law, including the Explosive Substances Act. During the investigation, NIA uncovered the involvement of several other individuals, including the arrested suspects Manobrata Jana from Naruabila village and Balai Charan Maity from Ninaruya Analberia.
“The two suspects actively participated in the conspiracy to manufacture crude bombs and provided support for the same,” stated the NIA, adding that their roles were discovered during the probe, leading to the subsequent searches and arrests. The arrested individuals will be presented before the Special NIA Court in Kolkata, in accordance with the law, concluded the agency.
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