Bengal: 17 socket bombs recovered in Malda dist a day after Guv's visit

Kolkata, April 19 (IANS) Just a day after the visit of West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, as many as 17 mini and handmade socket bombs have been recovered from West Bengal's Malda district adjacent to Murshidabad, which was on the boil last week after communal violence and riot-like situation broke out there after protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent.

On Friday, the Governor visited a relief camp at a school in Malda district, where several people displaced following the Murshidabad violence are currently housed.

According to sources, when the mini-socket bombs were discovered in a plastic bag hidden in a sugarcane field at Baishnabnagar area in Malda district, the Governor was touring the different troubled pockets in Murshidabad, interacting with the affected people there. Incidentally, the relief camp where the Governor visited on Friday was also at Baishnabnagar.

The plastic bag was first spotted by some local villagers, who immediately informed the local police station.

A team from the police station first arrived at the spot and cordoned off the place to ensure the safety of the people.

Later, the personnel from the bomb squad came, recovered the bombs, and defused them.

The police are not clear about who had brought the bombs and the intention behind bringing them.

The local residents have demanded enhanced security in the area following the development.

Sources aware of the development claimed that in case there had been a blast, the impact could have been 'quite alarming'.

On Friday, during his visit to the relief camp at Baishnabnagar, the Governor assured personal intervention in ensuring that each displaced family in the communal tension-hit Murshidabad district of West Bengal last week is completely rehabilitated.

“Several houses have been gutted. So the displaced families will be returned only after full rehabilitation is arranged for them. I personally came here to have first-hand experience of the prevailing situation. I will give a detailed report on the matter after going back,” the Governor told mediapersons on Friday.

He was, co-incidentally, at a place quite close to the spot of the bomb recovery.

--IANS

src/pgh