Asking the Railways to own responsibility for the "lapses" resulting in the attack on State Minister Jakir Hossain, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday on alleged that the incident was a “big conspiracy to kill him”.
Mr Hossain, who is the Minister of State for Labour, was injured in a bomb blast at Nimtita Railway station in Murshidabad district when he was about to catch a train to Kolkata late on Wednesday evening. The Jangipur MLA is also a prominent industrialist owning bidi making factories and has suffered serious injuries in his legs and hands.
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“First of all, it happened at a railway station, and at the time of the blast there were no railway police. The place was dark as there were no lights on. The incident took place on a raillway property It is not a part of the law and order of the state,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists after visiting the minister at the State-run SSKM Hospital.
Putting the blame squarely on Railways, Ms. Banerjee questioned why they were taking such a serious “matter casually”.
Opposition have raised question on the State’s handling of law-and-order situation in the State. The Left and Congress alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) had said that the law and order in the State has reached such low that Ministers are not being spread.
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“I condemn the dastardly bomb attack at Nimtita Railway Station in West Bengal. My prayers are for the quick recovery of the injured,” Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had tweeted.
The Chief Minister said that a special task force of West Bengal’s police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has started the probe into the incident. Accusing the Railways of “non cooperating” Ms. Banerjee said that blast was executed through a "remote device and many people have lost limbs in the attack".
“Jakir is in a serious condition. I spoke to him over telephone before he was taken to operation theatre,” she said.
Fourteen people have sustained serious injuries and 26 persons got injured in the bomb attack.
Ms Banerjee said that the State government will provide a compensation of ₹five lakh to those with serious injuries and ₹1 lakh to those with minor injuries. The Chief Minister also said that the State government will provide prosthetic limbs to those injured in attack. .
