BJP MP Locket Chatterjee writes to Amit Shah for NIA probe into Beleghata blast

KOLKATA: Iterating her demand for a probe by the NIA into the Beleghata blast here earlier this week, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, stressing that an investigation by the agency was the need of the hour, as the matter concerns public safety.

Chatterjee, in a letter to Shah on October 15, said the blast indicated that explosives have been stockpiled in different areas, "which might be used to cause terror attacks in Bengal" at some point.

An explosion early on October 13 blew off a club's asbestos roof and damaged a portion of its wall at Beleghata in the eastern part of the city, sparking fear among locals.

No one was injured in the blast, which occurred on the second floor of the club around 5 am.

The BJP demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), while the ruling TMC had said the Kolkata Police was competent enough to carry out the investigation.

Chatterjee, however, said the "Kolkata Police might suppress findings under pressure from the state government, which may later prove disastrous for public safety".

"Hence I request you (Shah) to order an NIA probe into the bomb blast at Beleghata in the interest of preserving India's sovereignty and internal security," she wrote.

The BJP MP also apprehended that explosives were being hoarded in several areas, ahead of 2021 Assembly elections.

Citing another case, she said, "We had witnessed a similar situation in October 2014 at the house of a local TMC leader in Khagragarh, Burdwan, where two people were killed in what the state police had initially said was a gas cylinder blast," she said.

However, the NIA took over the investigation, and subsequently a terror module of Bangladesh-based terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was busted and 19 people were held guilty, she recounted.

Earlier, BJP's Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, had in a tweet, accused the city police of trying to suppress the case and shield the "conspirators".