Banga bang bang: West Bengal is the bomb capital today

The finding of 150 crude bombs in Birbhum, West Bengal, today is once again a grim reminder that bombs are being manufactured at will and not in small numbers. The number of crude bombs recovered from West Bengal is around 350 since last October

Just ten days back there was another incident in which 70 crude bombs were found at Sattore in the same district.

Prior to this over two dozen crude bombs were found in Malda district and who can forget the Burdwan episode where the agencies recovered over 100 bombs on October 2 2014.

One also got to witness two crude bombs exploding when two innocent children were playing at the DumDum railway station two days. During this the police also managed to find three more crude bombs placed at the railway station.

What is it with West Bengal and bombs?

The bomb culture in West Bengal is not something new. There has always been a flurry of bombs that have been found in the state especially during the time of the elections.

Agencies who have probed the various cases have found that most of the bombs that have been found in the state are used for political wars. Bombs have become a symbol of strength for political parties and they use it to outdo political rivals, investigations have shown.

Bombs irrespective of political parties:

In several investigations it has been seen that most of the bombs that have been recovered have belonged to fringe elements of political parties. There are designated anti social elements in almost all political parties in West Bengal who have been roped in to fight a bloody political war.

Right from a village panchayat election to a Lok Sabha polls, several political parties have used bombs as a tool to fight their opponents. In several cases it has been found that cottage industries have been set up to make bombs.;

The bomb industry is thriving and there is a huge demand for the same an investigator informed oneindia.

Bombs for terror:

Terror bombs meant to kill innocents has also become a thriving industry. The Burdhwan episode was a sign of this. In this case we however got to see a full fledged module from Bangladesh being set up in West Bengal.

It was not difficult for these persons to source and make the bombs considering the fact that there was already a thriving market for the same. The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen operatives had easy access to material and this helped them make over 150 bombs.

A cottage industry:

Investigations have shown that bombs are being made in illegal cottage industries in West Bengal. There are several labour who have been roped in for the job.

These are not skilled labour, but unemployed youth have been hired to prepare the bombs. These industries also have a large number of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants.

Investigations show that the job of these persons is to prepare bombs and they are paid around Rs 70 per day. Their only brief is to prepare as many bombs as possible.

These bombs are then stocked in safe houses and used to fight political battles or even for terror strikes.