Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (File).
Kolkata:
The arrest of two key accused within the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case – tracked from Bengaluru to Bengal’s East Midnapore district – has triggered a predictable political slugfest between the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party forward of the election.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, at an election rally in Dinhata in Bengal’s Cooch Behar, hit again at barbs the state had develop into a “safe haven for terrorists” underneath her rule. Ms Banerjee, a fierce and vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP, identified, “The men (who were arrested) are not residents of Bengal… they were hiding out here. They were arrested in two hours.”
“The BJP cannot stand it if there is peace in Bengal,” the Trinamool boss raged.
“Is Uttar Pradesh safe? Is Rajasthan safe? Is Bihar safe?” she requested of the group.
Senior Trinamool chief Kunal Ghosh additionally shot again on the BJP’s assaults, mentioning the arresting company, the National Investigation Agency or NIA, “had to accept active cooperation of state police”.
“Their press release mentions cooperation of state police in arrests they made,” he asserted.
The males arrested this morning – Mussavir Hussain Shazeb and Abdul Matheen Taha – are believed to be key conspirators; Taha allegedly dealt with the logistics whereas Shazeb planted the bomb. They had been traced to Kanthi, or Contai, a small metropolis 180 km from Kolkata within the Purba Medinipur district.
READ |Â 2 Men Who Planted Bomb At Bengaluru Cafe Arrested From Bengal
Significantly, Kanthi is the stronghold of the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who was as soon as an in depth aide of Ms Banerjee earlier than he crossed over, simply weeks earlier than the 2021 Bengal Assembly election. Mr Adhikari went on to defeat Ms Banerjee in a high-profile conflict from the distinguished Nandigram seat.
In his fierce response, Mr Ghosh additionally known as on state authorities to analyze hyperlinks between Mr Adhikari’s household and the Rameshwaram Cafe bombers. He additionally mentioned Bengal Police stay “steadfast in suppressing anti-national forces” and are all the time able to cooperate with different businesses.
He then launched a jab on the BJP, whom the Trinamool has regularly accused of orchestrating incidents of unrest and violence, significantly throughout elections, to destabilise the state equipment.
Mr Ghosh additionally referred to reviews the NIA had detained and questioned a BJP employee in reference to the March 1 blast at Bengaluru’s standard Rameshwaram Cafe, by which 10 individuals had been injured.
Ms Banerjee and Mr Ghosh’s indignant retorts got here after the BJP’s Amit Malviya posted on X (previously Twitter) about Shazeb and Taha’s arrests, and mentioned “both likely belong to ISIS cell in Karnataka”.
Mr Malviya’s submit was swiftly fact-checked by Bengal Police.
The proactive position of WBP within the matter has been formally acknowledged by the Central Agencies.
West Bengal has NEVER been a secure haven for terrorists and the state police will proceed to stay ever-vigilant in conserving its individuals secure from nefarious actions. (2/2)
— West Bengal Police (@WBPolice) April 12, 2024
The police mentioned “contrary to Amit Malviya’s claims” the 2 accused had been arrested after a joint operation involving themselves and central intelligence businesses. “The proactive role of West Bengal Police… has been officially acknowledged by the central agencies. West Bengal has NEVER been a safe haven for terrorists and the state police will continue to remain ever-vigilant…” the cops mentioned.
The Rameshwaram Cafe, which suffered in depth injury after the blast, reopened eight days later, with enhanced safety measures together with metallic detectors.
READ |Â Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe Reopens 8 Days After Blast
“We have strengthened our security team and are also trying to set up a separate panel of ex-servicemen who will train security guards at all our branches,” co-founder Raghavendra Rao mentioned.
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