Over 700 bombs recovered in Birbhum: Police

Police in Birbhum, which has seen several bomb blast incidents in recent times, said they have recovered more than 700 bombs over the last week as part of an operation to locate and shut bomb-making units. While police have been running the operation for the last week, officials sped up the proceedings after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee instructed them to do so at an administrative meet in Birbhum Monday. “Shut down all bomb factories, recover all illegal arms. We will not allow anybody to create trouble. The police will take strong action,” she had said.

The police on Wednesday found about 200 live crude bombs — the largest single recovery so far — buried in an abandoned area in Barara village. Police also recovered 70 bombs from a container in Chandipur. “So far, all bombs have been recovered from abandoned areas. Yesterday, we recovered more than 200 bombs. Bomb disposal squad was deployed to defuse them. In the last one week, about 700 bombs have been recovered. Raids are on,” SP (Birbhum) N Sudheer Kumar told The Indian Express.

Sources said police have activated all their ground sources, and are conducting raids based on information gathered.
“Crude bombs and explosives have been available across the district for years. It has adversely affected the peace of the district,” said a CID official in Birbhum.

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As per sources, the business of making and selling crude bombs has been flourishing in pockets of Birbhum since 2007, when the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement was gathering steam. Areas such as Nanoor, Labhpur and Paroi are now under the scanner.

“ All efforts are on so that no arms and bombs can be stocked in Birbhum,” said an officer.

During her visit, Mamata had also identified Nanoor and Paroi as “sensitive areas”, and asked police to be vigilant. She had also warned her party workers against internal clashes.