Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday unearthed an arms cache inside a house at Sarberia in Sandeshkhali while National Security Guards (NSG) were deployed to extract explosives.
Sources said, acting on a tip off, a CBI team accompanied by a large contingent of Central forces reached Sandeshkhali and conducted a raid at the house of a person identified as Abu Taleb Mollah who is said to be close to suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan Sheikh. When CBI reached the house they found it empty. During the raid, they found several firearms, including a few foreign-made arms, hidden under the floor of the house.
While searching for possible arms in a mud hut adjacent to the house, CBI officials found some explosives. Immediately, the area was evacuated and the National Security Guard (NSG) was called in. In the afternoon, a contingent of NSG commandos, including the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), of the Central force arrived. After taking stock of the situation, the NSG team used a robot vehicle with remote control feature to bring out a bag containing the explosive. However, the nature of the explosive remained unknown till the time this report was filed. After a while the robot vehicle carried the bag containing explosives to a safe place where NSG commandos used sandbags where the bombs were to be detonated or defused. Till last reports came in, NSG commandos were still working on the explosive to defuse it.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress on Friday evening came down heavily on the BJP claiming that it is an attempt to defame Bengal. Trinamool Congress leader Chandrima Bhattacharya said the BJP is always conspiring to show Bengal in poor light. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that it is a “manufactured story”. “We are still in the dark about what was found there,” he said.