NIA teams in 7 Bengal districts voting today to check for explosives

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Teams from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have been deployed in the seven districts voting in the second phase of the West Bengal assembly elections on April 29 to independently search for explosives, Election Commission of India officials said. National Investigation Agency (NIA) personnel conduct searches at Jagaddal and Barrackpore police stations in connection with bomb recovery cases ahead of the polls, in Kolkata, (PTI)The proactive deployment comes after the agency on April 26 started investigating a bomb seizure case in Bhangar’s Uttar Kashipur area in South 24 Parganas on a home ministry directive. While the teams are in all poll-bound districts, a senior ECI official said they have been specifically deployed at Bhangar, Burdwan, Hooghly, Nadia, Baruipur and Kasba, Diamond Harbour, the Bishnupur police station area, and the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate area. The teams will register fresh cases if warranted, a senior ECI official said. HT reached out to the NIA’s public relations office but did not receive a response. NIA’s first formal involvement in the election cycle came after seven judicial officers overseeing the voter roll revision process were held hostage by a mob in Malda on April 1. The Supreme Court on April 2 directed the ECI to order a CBI or NIA probe, following which the NIA registered a preliminary enquiry and later arrested the alleged mastermind at Bagdogra airport. On Sunday, the ECI directed West Bengal Police to launch a special drive to arrest bomb makers across the state within 24 hours, adding that all such cases would be investigated by the NIA. The ruling Trinamool Congress criticised the move while the Opposition BJP welcomed it. “The NIA works in the domain of national security and terrorism; the ECI should explain what national security threat and terrorism exists in West Bengal that requires the NIA,” questioned Sushmita Dev, TMC member of parliament. Debjit Sarkar, BJP spokesperson for West Bengal, said the state had faced organised election violence for the past 50 years. “The NIA has been brought in to curb all of this,” he said.