The arrest of two accused in the Bengaluru cafe blast case from West Bengal on Friday kept the state’s political pot boiling ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party claiming that the Trinamool Congress regime has turned the state into a safe haven for terrorists.
The BJP’s remark drew a riposte from the TMC and West Bengal Police, which pointed out that the NIA arrested the accused with the help of the state police.
The NIA on Friday arrested the two accused, including the mastermind, in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe blast case, officials said.
Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa were traced to their hideout near Kolkata and apprehended by an NIA team, they said.
Later in the day, a city court granted a three-day transit remand of the two accused to the NIA.
“NIA detains two chief suspects in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, bomber Mussavir Hussain Shazib and accomplice Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, from Kolkata. Both likely belong to ISIS cell in Shivamogga, Karnataka. West Bengal, unfortunately, under Mamata Banerjee, has become a safe haven for terrorists,” Amit Malviya, co-incharge of BJP in West Bengal, posted on X.
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said due to the appeasement politics of the TMC government, the state has turned into a “link” of various terror activities across the country over the last few years.
Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said under the TMC regime, West Bengal is sitting on a ticking time bomb and expressed concern over a deep-rooted nexus of terror modules in the state.
“If these terrorists were hiding here for the last few days, then it is quite evident that they have support cells working here. The state police were sleeping all these days, it is only after NIA provided the tipoff they acted,” he said.
Leading TMC’s charge, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the accused in the Bengaluru blast case were arrested because of the state police’s prompt action.
“Heard one BJP leader saying that Bengal is not safe. The accused were arrested within two hours following a prompt response by police. What about the states where you are in power?” she said at a rally in Cooch Behar.
“What about Uttar Pradesh Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, and Bihar?” she asked.
Medical tests of the two Bengaluru cafe blast case accused were conducted at a state-run hospital before their production at a metropolitan.
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