Faction feud hits West Bengal as 3 die in crude bomb blast

Kolkata, Mar 8: Three persons were killed when a crude bomb accidentally triggered off at Murshidabad in West Bengal early this morning. The victims have been identified as Minar Shaikh and Bashir.

The details of the third person who died in the blast is being ascertained by the police. Prima facie the investigation suggests that the blast was a result of a factional feud between two groups part of the Trinamool Congress Party.

The police say that the bombs were meant to be used in the elections. West Bengal has had a notorious history of using bombs to overpower political opponents during the elections.

Violence can get very high during the elections and this is why the Election Commission of India had said that it would be a six phase poll.

The explosion was heard at 4.30 am. On reaching the spot the police recovered nearly 150 crude bombs from the venue which falls under the Bharatpur police station limits. We have also found other bomb making material while 150 bombs had already been prepared an officer informed.

The investigation conducted by the police suggests that two factions of the TMC at Murshidabad were trying to outdo each other with the elections approaching. One of the factions was led by Kasim Shaikh while the other by Tahir Shaikh.

There has been tension between the two groups for long and each was trying to gain control over the area, police officials tell OneIndia.

The bombs may been prepared to outdo the other faction, the officer said while also adding that these were preliminary findings.

The issue relating to factionalism at the ground level had become a major point of worry for the TMC. Recently Mamta Banerjee the TMC supremo and Chief Minister of West Bengal had instructed all party workers to bury differences and work together in the wake of the elections coming up.

OneIndia News