Kolkata February 18 :The West Bengal CID has taken over the case of the bomb attack on West Bengal Minister, Jakir Hossain, and his entourage on the night of 17 February.
Bomb squads and forensic teams also reached the Nimtita railway station in Bengal’s Murshidabad, where the incident took place.
Meanwhile, supporters of Hossain and members of the Trinamool Congress sat in protest in Raghunathganj, of which Nimtita is a part, blocking National Highway 34.
West Bengal Minister from the Trinamool Congress, Jakir Hossain, and those with him were attacked with crude bombs at Nimtita railway station by unidentified miscreants at about 9.45 pm on 17 February, while he was on his way to board a train to Kolkata.Hossain, a minister of state for Labour, was rushed to a sub-divisional hospital in Jangipur, after which he was referred to Murshidabad College and Hospital.
He was finally taken to Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital on the morning of 18 February.
Hossain has sustained several critical injuries, mainly on his left side and legs, say hospital sources, but his condition is now stable. He will be undergoing a surgery.
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A total of 38 people have been injured in the incident. While Hossain and 12 others have been admitted to Kolkata’s SSKM, others have been admitted to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital.
Local sources say that Hossain may have been targetted for his opposition to rampant cow smuggling in the district.
Governor of West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankhar, condemned the attack on Twitter.
“Attack on WB Minister Jakir Hossain at Nimtita railway station, Murshidabad, reprehensible. Concerned at increasing rise in violence that has no place in democracy. Time @WBPolice @HomeBengal administration @MamataOfficial to act fast as per law,” Dhankhar tweeted.
Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Piyush Goyal tweeted about the incident too.
“I condemn the attack on Jakir Hosaain. The perpetrators must be arrested and punished. He is one-of-a-kind in the Trinamool. He worked hard and used his intelligence to become a successful industrialist, a friend of the people. He won and became a legislator on the back of his own popularity”, said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Chowdhury also pointed towards the fact that the attack may have been orchestrated by the Trinamool.
“The Trinamool doesn’t like politics of honesty. He was honest that’s why he was attacked. Jakir is the “Prahlad” in the demon world of the Trinamool”, Chowdhury wrote in a Facebook post.
West Bengal is set to go to polls in April-May this year, in what looks to be a contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).