KOLKATA: March 9, Tala Bridge, North Kolkata: 1,000 kg potassium nitrate ; March 14, Saltora, Bankura: 6,650 kg ammonium nitrate, 2,650 kg gelatin sticks, 52,500 detonators. The seizure of two massive consignments of explosive materials within a span of six days in different parts of south Bengal have indicated at plans of largescale use of high-powered bombs during the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, putting state security agencies on high alert.
The seizures have also lent credence to BJP’s demand for declaring all the 42 constituencies in West Bengal as ‘super sensitive’, protesting against which the ruling Trinamool Congress began a 48-hour dharna in central Kolkata Friday.
Kolkata Special Task Force (STF) officers intercepted a goods vehicle, coming from Balasore in Odisha, at Tala Bridge on March 9 with 27 sacks containing 1,000 kg of ammonium nitrate.
The interrogation of driver Indrajit Bhuin and helper Padmalochan Dey, both residents of Balasore, did not give a clear picture about the purpose or destination of the explosives, with the accused frequently changing their statements, sources revealed. “The seizure of such a huge quantity of explosives, which were suspected to be bound to politically-volatile and Bangladesh-bordering North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, is definitely a matter of worry,” an STF officer said.
On the other hand, interrogation into the recovery of the explosives from a warehouse in Saltora during a raid by CID sleuths on March 14 revealed that the explosives were brought from mines in Jharkhand, Odisha and Telangana. The owner of the warehouse is absconding.
“There is a high probability of these explosives being used to foment trouble in communally-sensitive areas and politically-volatile regions in the western districts of the state during elections,” a CID official said.
The BJP had performed well in the western districts during the panchayat polls last year and is expected to give a tough fight to the TMC in the region in the Lok Sabha polls.
Gelatin seized in Bihar
An illegal consignment of explosives — 375 kg gelatin and 1,000 detonators — was seized from an SUV in Aurangabad district of Bihar on Friday. The SUV, bearing a UP registration number, was carrying the explosives from neighbouring Rohtas district.