TNN, Kolkata :
A minor explosion took place outside the CRPF camp in West Bengal’s Salt Lake where NIA has set up a makeshift office for the Burdwan blast probe on Monday.
NIA officers were questioning three major Bangladeshi terror suspects – Sajid, Hamid and Zia-ul-Haque – when the blast was heard around 7.30pm, said sources.
The blast site is close to Technopolis and the tech hub of Sector V. CCTV footage from near Technopolis and a bus stand right outside the CPRF camp show a red car parked in the vicinity for quite some time. A large police force has cordoned off the area and bomb disposal experts are on the ground.
Samples collected from the spot point to a crude bomb but without splinters, say sources. Traffic has been restricted on the road.
Police suspect the bomb was thrown from a bus and hit the boundary wall of the CRPF camp. The CRPF sentries called police immediately.
“At around 7.30pm we heard a loud thud outside. We were all surprised. The local police and bomb explosion experts have arrived,” an NIA official said. Bidhannagar police commissioner Rajiv Kumar and DC-DD Kankar Prasad Barui rushed to the spot.
“There has been an explosion but it doesn’t seem serious. The explosion took place in a corner of the bus stand right in front of the CPRF camp. The police commissioner and detective chief have examined the spot very carefully but there was neither any smell nor any residue of explosives,” said a police officer. “We have strengthened security around the CRPF camp,” Kumar said.
Police have sent samples collected from the spot for forensic test. “We are taking the incident extremely seriously and we will do everything to ensure the safety and security of the officers,” a senior police officer said.
Kolkata was on high alert last week after intelligence inputs of a possible terror strike on Kolkata port between November 4 and 7.
