Prakash Karat welcomes handing over Burdwan blast probe to NIA

Addressing a press conference here, Karat said, "It is not a local incident and has serious ramifications for the state and the country. There are external links and this is a question of the country's security. It has external dimensions. That is why our party wanted the investigation to be done by a competent agency and NIA is the fittest."

Karat also said that he did not think there was any encroachment on state powers.

Amid the ongoing tussle over the probe into the Burdwan blast case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on last Friday said there is an 'increasing trend of interference' by the Central Government in the state matters since the BJP-led government came into power.

In her Facebook post, Banerjee had said: "I am in politics since my childhood days, and my public life spans over more than 26 years.I feel like sharing with my facebook friends that ever since the new Government has come to power at the Centre, there is an increasing trend of interference by the Central Government in the state matters."

"The beauty of federal structure is the jurisdiction of working between the Centre and the State and some by both. Primarily, the role of the Central Government is to deal matters concerning major policies/decision making issues. It is expected that Centre and the States do not encroach upon the areas of activities of others.Now-a-days, the Central Government tends to frequently and unnecessarily interfere in state matters what is not at all expected as per our Constitution," she said.

The NIA on Thursday recovered   a sack full of IED’s  while conducting searches at a residence in West Bengal's Burdwan district.

The IED's were reportedly recovered from the residence of one Rezaul Karim who is absconding.

In a statement, the NIA said: " The NIA investigation is continuing on a fast pace. This day in the evening a team of NIA officers assisted by Burdwan District Police conducted search of a house of one important person linked with the incident located in Burdwan wherein a sack full of IED’s concealed in a room have been recovered. Further enquiries are on.

"The NIA officers are also being assisted by NSG team in safe disposal of IEDs as the area is located in thickly populated area. Efforts are on to trace the absconding individual," read the statement.

Country's premier terror investigation body NIA is currently investigating  into the Burdwan blast which had killed two people on Oct 2.

The decision for an NIA probe was taken by the Home Ministry in view of international ramifications of the case as the incident is now being linked to terrorist groups from across the border having connections with al-Qaeda, LeT and HUJI.

The involvement of a Bangladesh-based terror group into the blast is also suspected.

The Centre initiated a suo-motu probe in regard to the Burdwan blast.

A copy of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order was also sent to the West Bengal government clearly stating that NIA had taken up the matter to probe suo-motu.

The Burdwan blast incident had taken place at Khagragarh area in Burdwan district as the explosion in a house led to the discovery of a cache of arms and ammunition. Two people, identified as Shakil Ahmed and Swapan Mondal, died in the blast.

(Reporting and Image by Deepayan Sinha)