Hours after inspecting a site in West Bengal’s Burdwan district where two suspected Bangladeshi militants were killed in a blast on October 2, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Monday met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking support for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is probing the case.
The Trinamool Congress chief assured Doval of her government’s full cooperation to the Centre in fighting terrorism.
Special Secretary (Home) Prakash Mishra said that the Centre and state are together on the issue of fighting terrorism. “Burdwan blast is a terror issue. This case will be taken to its logical end,” Mishra said.
The meeting came shortly after Doval inspected the site of explosion, in which militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is believed to be involved, that occurred in a rented house in Khagragarh in Burdwan on October 2 killing two people.
Doval, accompanied by National Security Guard (NSG) chief JN Choudhury, NIA Director General Sharad Kumar and Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Asif Ibrahim, reached Khagragarh this morning and inspected the blast site.
During his meeting with the West Bengal CM, Doval reportedly discussed measures that are being taken by the Mamata Banerjee government to eliminate terror.
NSA is visiting the state as the Special envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
With NIA completing its initial probe into the incident, Kumar had on Oct 24 inspected the blast site and visited Beldanga in Murshidabad district, where one of the dead militants had a rented accommodation.
Six people, including two women, have been arrested.
The NIA is also likely to announce cash rewards for any information leading to the arrest of the absconding accused which include JMB members from Bangladesh.
West Bengal Chief Minister is currently facing criticism for turning a blind eye to the incident and for serious lapses in intelligence gathering by the state agencies. Trinamool Congress chief is under attack from her political rivals for her inept handling of the incident.
The main opposition party CPI-M has accused Banerjee of allowing extremist elements to flourish in the state.
