New Delhi: West Bengal minister Jakir Hossain was seriously injured after unidentified attackers hurled a crude bomb at him at the Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad district on Wednesday night.
At least two other persons, who were with the Trinamool Congress MLA from Jangipur, were also injured in the incident.
Senior minister and TMC leader Malay Ghatak held “political rivals of the party” responsible for the attack, but others claimed that it is the result of an internal feud.
Hossain, the state’s labour minister, was waiting at platform no 2 of the station to catch a train to Kolkata at around 10 pm when he was attacked, a senior police officer of West Bengal Police told news agency PTI.
“We have started an investigation,” the officer said, adding that a large police contingent was posted at Nimtita railway station.
The minister and the two other injured persons were taken to Jangipur sub-divisional hospital, he said.
An official of the hospital said that the minister suffered “injuries to his legs and lower abdominal part. We are trying to stabilise him before shifting him to a hospital in Kolkata.”
TMC leader Ghatak told PTI that Hossain is a very popular leader in Murshidabad. “He has successfully conducted rallies where thousands of people participated. It is the work of our political rivals. They wanted to kill Jakir,” Ghatak said.
The TMC’s Murshidabad district president Abu Taher Khan accused the BJP or the Congress of being involved in the attack.
However, the sabhadhipati of the Murshidabad Zilla Parishad, Mosharaf Hossain – who was expelled from the TMC earlier in the day – claimed that the attack was the result of an internal party feud.
BJP state party president Dilip Ghosh condemned the attack on Hossain. “This shows that West Bengal is not safe even for ministers. The law and order has totally failed,” Ghosh said.
West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who hails from the Murshidabad district, said, “Jakir is an honest leader unlike several others in the TMC in Murshidabad. I know him personally. I request the state government to arrest the culprits as soon as possible.”
According to the Indian Express, Chowdhury claimed that Hossain was attacked because “he was opposed to cow smuggling and corruption in the district”.
Hossain was previously with the Congress and joined the TMC ahead of the 2016 assembly elections. The state is gearing up for elections this year, scheduled to be held in April or May.
(With PTI inputs)