The explosion outside the NIA office in Kolkata has once again brought into focus the reach and spread of terror network in West Bengal.
With the NIA said to be close to cracking the Burdwan blast case after it arrested several key operatives of the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), reports said that investigators suspect the blast outside NIA office was carried out as a warning against further probe.
The blast – though a minor one – may have been meant as an intimidation, reports added.
The blast occurred around 7:30 pm yesterday evening outside the NIA camp office, situated in the Bidhannagar area in the Salt Lake suburb of the city, when two crude bombs were thrown from a car passing by the camp office area.
Reports said no explosives were found at the spot and the material used could be a firecracker. No one was injured in the incident.
Among the suspects in NIA’s custody is the alleged mastermind of the Burdwan terror module Sajid alias Sk Rahamatulla. He was nabbed last Saturday from near Kolkata airport by the West Bengal Police and was subsequently handed over to the NIA.
Sajid – investigators said he used to taught in madarsas and impart jihadi ideology- later admitted before a court that he served several years in Bangladesh jails and fled to India earlier in the year.