This Article is From Oct 08, 2014

Burdwan Blast: Burqa Factory Front for Bomb-Making Plant?

The building where the blast occurred on Thursday

Burdwan: An unpainted two-storey house with a pink window on the first floor - that was the scene of the blast in West Bengal's Burdwan on Thursday in which two suspected militants were killed and a third injured.

Alima and Rumi, the wives of one of the injured and one of the dead, have been arrested. When they moved into the first floor flat at Burdwan's Khargagarh area four months ago, they apparently told the landlord they were in the burqa-making business. But what they allegedly made here instead, were bombs.

A narrow grilled doorway is the only way up to the first floor. When police and firemen rushed here after the blast, the two women allegedly barred them from entering the flat where the explosion had occurred and used the time to allegedly burn incriminating material, including pamphlets that mentioned Al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahari and the words "Mujahedeen" and "Chechen Rebels".

Almost overshadowing investigations is the political row between the Trinamool and the CPM and the BJP over the incident. The opposition parties want the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the blast and not the state police. They allege there are links between the ruling party and the people behind the blast.

These allegations have emerged from the fact that a Trinamool supporter owns the building, and Trinamool flags were found inside a room on the ground floor.

The Trinamool denies any links. Party MP Mukul Roy says there was no Trinamool office in the building. However, local party leaders have said on record that they used the ground floor room during elections.

Police suspect a Bangladeshi link and that the suspected terrorists may have had connections with militant groups across the border.

A lot of answers could come from the two women arrested and under interrogations. But, according to reports, the women are not giving anything away. One of the women reportedly told her interrogators that she could kill people.
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