The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against seven accused in the case relating to an explosion at a litchi orchard in West Bengal’s Murshidabad.
NIA officials here said that the explosion took place ‘accidentally’ on January 17 last year when the accused were in the process of preparing iron socket bombs in the orchard behind the school, located in Rameswarpur village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
The official said that two of the accused, Iyasuddin Sk a.k.a. Chadi and Sukchand Ali were injured in the blast. Iyasuddin succumbed to his injuries later.
The duo had been handling the bombs, along with another accused, Mansur Ali aka Mansur Sheikh and others, behind the school when the explosion occurred.
In his dying statement, Iyasuddin Sk had revealed that he had been induced to make the bombs by one Imdadul Hoque a.k.a. Imdarul Hoque, and some others.
Imdadul had also provided the explosives and other bomb making materials for the job.
The official said that a total of 75 live socket bombs and other incriminating materials were initially seized from the crime spot.
Subsequently, based on the disclosures of two other accused, identified as Masadul Hoque a.k.a. Masadul Sk and Habibur Rahaman a.k.a. Habu, the police also recovered 12 iron pipes from the spot.
Another accused, Tahabul Sk, led the police to the recovery of 35 live iron stick bombs in two lots, on March 28 and March 31, 2022, respectively.
All seized live bombs were disposed off, after being rendered safe, the official said.
The official said that according to its investigation all the accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to fabricate and store bombs for use in terror acts with the objective of spread fear among the local populace of Rameswarpur and to establish their dominance in the entire area.
The NIA had taken over the case on September 20 last year. “While the charges against Iyasuddin Sk stand abetted due to his death, the others face prosecution under various sections of IPC, Explosive Substances Act and UA(P) Act,” the official said.
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