Author: Vijaita Singh
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 29, 2014
URL: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/burdwan-blast-mamata-accepts-lapses-by-police/

Admitting to lapses by the West Bengal police in the Burdwan blast case, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly informed National Security Advisor Ajit Doval that the state government has ordered an internal inquiry to find out how the prime accused Kauser Ali, a key operative of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), managed to escape. A preliminary probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has so far not found any “political patronage” being given to the accused, sources said.

Sources said Banerjee, who met NSA and senior Home Ministry officials, said though the police did a “fine job” with the investigations, they could not understand its magnitude and may have “downplayed the incident.”

“The Chief Minister was told that Kauser Ali, who escaped from the Burdwan house where the blast took place, was in neighbouring Birbhum from October 2-5 and could have easily been caught had the police acted more swiftly,” said a senior official.

Investigators said the two prime accused Kauser Ali and Sheikh Habibur, both Bangladesh nationals, used to teach at two girls madrasas — at Simulia in Burdwan and at Lalgola in Murshidabad. “The two accused belong to Bangladesh and were teaching the girl students here. We have come to know they were being indoctrinated as well as being taught about chemicals,” said the official. The two women who were arrested from the house — Razia Bibi and Alima Bibi — also belong to Bangladesh but had residential proof that showed them as natives of West Bengal.

The MHA is planning to hand over the case in Assam, where six people were arrested, also to the NIA as it is linked to the Burdwan case and the government has no objection to it.

Doval explained to Banerjee the deep-rooted conspiracy being hatched from West Bengal to target installations in neighbouring Bangladesh. India will also be handing over a dossier to the Bangladesh government for preventive steps and necessary action that Dhaka needs to take to counter the threat posed by JMB.