In its chargesheet in the 2019 Lokpur blast in Birbhum, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that bombs were stockpiled to create terror in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, sources said. The agency also claimed that a bomb was placed in the house of TMC worker Bablu Mondal with his consent with an aim to spread terror in the area.
On September 20, 2019, a blast took place at the house of Bablu Mondal. The case was first investigated by the state CID. It was later transferred to the NIA on the court’s order. The NIA arrested Mondal during the course of its investigation.
As per the sources, the NIA in its 50-page chargesheet claimed that the bombs were stockpiled since the 2017 panchayat elections.
In its reaction to the NIA probe, the ruling TMC said that the central agency was working at the behest of the BJP. “The NIA is a central agency. What BJP wants to say, they say through central agencies. We all know it by now,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, “The NIA is not saying something very different. The residents of the area had said the same thing when the incident took place.” ENS