25 crude bombs recovered from poll-bound Murshidabad in West Bengal: Police

Police said that the crude bombs found in Domkal and Jalangi since Friday night have been disposed of, adding that no one has been arrested in connection

Berhampore: The West Bengal police said that they recovered more than two dozen crude bombs from multiple places in poll-bound Murshidabad district since Friday night sparking apprehension of poll violence in the areas.

(Representative Photo)

Police said that at least 25 crude bombs and raw materials for making the bombs were recovered from at least three places at Domkal and at least three bombs were recovered from Jalangi on Saturday morning.

Both Domkal and Jalangi fall under the Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency. Two constituencies in Murshidabad district – Murshidabad and Jangipur – and two seats in the adjacent district of Malda – Malda South and Malda North – will be going into polls on May 7 in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Police said that the crude bombs found in Domkal and Jalangi since Friday night have been disposed of, adding that no one has been arrested in connection with the recovery of bombs.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, in the last few days, explosions have been reported and crude bombs have been recovered from multiple places such as Rejinagar, Lalgola, Beldanga and Nabagram in Murshidabad district, according to the police.

Earlier this week two back-to-back explosions on two consecutive days were reported from Rejinagar under Berhampore Lok Sabha constituency in the district. Berhampore goes into polls in the fourth phase on May 13.

The election commission has said it would likely deploy around 334 companies of central forces in the two poll-bound districts in the third phase. 

A Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of making and stockpiling huge amounts of crude bombs. 

“If the poll panel doesn’t act now there may be massive violence and bloodshed on the election day,” said Mostafizur Rahaman, CPIM leader from Domkal.

Responding to the allegations, Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, TMC leader from the district, said, “TMC is not engaged in such illegal activities. We don’t need to resort to any violence. We will win with the blessings of the people.”