NIA arrests Trinamool leader over detonator recovery in Birbhum last year

KOLKATA — The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a local Trinamool Congress leader named Manoj Ghosh from Birbhum district in West Bengal in connection with the recovery of 81,000 detonators from the district last year.

On Monday, Ghosh was summoned by the NIA at the Nalhati police station in Birbhum district. After being questioned for hours, he was arrested by the central agency on Monday afternoon. Ghosh was also a Trinamool candidate in the panchayat polls held on Saturday.

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In April this year, the agency had submitted a charge sheet in this matter at a special NIA court. The charge sheet was filed within 90 days since the NIA took up the investigation in the matter.

As many 81,000 detonators were recovered from a passenger van in the Muhammadbazar area of Birbhum district on June 30, 2022. The detonators were seized by the Special Task Force (STF) of state police. Three persons were also arrested by the STF in this connection, one first from Raniganj in West Burdwan district, and the other two from Dhuliyan in Murshidabad district.

The NIA took over of the investigation on September 29, 2022.

It is learnt that the use of detonators is quite common in some parts of Birbhum, which houses a number of stone quarries. The detonators are used to blast stone blocks for the purpose of use in stone quarries.

However, this was the first time that detonators in such a large quantity were recovered from the district.