West Bengal Minister of State for Labour Jakir Hossain and 10 Trinamool Congress leaders sustained injuries after some unidentified attackers hurled crude bombs at them at the Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad on Wednesday night, reported The Telegraph.
Hossain has been admitted to the trauma centre of the Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital in Kolkata. He will undergo a surgery.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited Hossain on Thursday, alleged that it was a planned attack and part of a larger conspiracy, reported ABP Ananda. The chief minister also held the Indian Railways responsible for the incident since the attack took place on its premises. She alleged that no Railway Police Force personnel were present at the spot.
“We are trying to identify the goons from CCTV footage with help of railway police,” Jangipur Superintendent of Police Y Raghuvamshi said. “No one has been arrested so far.” The police said that Hossain was dropped outside the station in a car. He walked up to platform number 2, where he was attacked, they said, adding that he was accompanied by his personal guard.
The West Bengal Crime Investigation Department has taken over the case, reported India Today. Officials from the investigating agency on Thursday morning arrived at the spot.
President of the Murshidabad unit of the Trinamool Congress, Abu Taher Khan, said the party has requested the police to arrest the assailants soon. “We can’t imagine a gentleman and popular politician like Jakir Hossain could have enemies who would try to kill him,” he said.
The incident came hours after the Trinamool Congress expelled Mosharaf Hossain, president of the Murshidabad Zilla Parishad, on charges of anti-party activities, according to The Indian Express. Khan said that the minister had attended the meeting where Mosharaf Hossain was expelled.
Mosharaf Hossain claimed that the attack was the result of the party’s internal feud. Minister Moloy Ghatak held “political rivals of the party” responsible for the attack.
State Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that Jakir Hossain was attacked because he was opposed to cow smuggling and corruption. “He had opposed the people involved in these activities,” Chowdhury said. “This could be the reason why he was targeted today. The law and order situation has hit an all-time low in the state.”
BJP national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and state party president Dilip Ghosh condemned the attack. “This incident is proof that there is no law and order in the state,” said Ghosh. “Even ministers are not safe here.”
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