HC gives NIA go-ahead to probe 2019 Birbhum blasts

Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate two bomb blasts in Birbhum in 2019. The NIA had taken over the probe from state investigating agency CID, but couldn’t proceed because of an interim direction from the high court.
A division bench of justices Joymalya Bagchi and Bivas Pattanayak gave the go-ahead to NIA and directed CID to “cooperate” and, if required, transfer all probe documents to the central agency.
On August 20, 2019, a blast was reported at a cow shed at Renguni village under Sadaipur PS in Birbhum. Shaikh Badrudoja, the property owner, was allegedly using the shed to store explosives and make crude bombs. A month later, there was another blast in a tin shed of a house owned by one Bablu Mandal at Gangpur village under Birbhum’s Lokpur PS.
NIA counsel Bhaskar Prasad Banerjee on Thursday submitted that the agency’s probe was stalled following an interim HC stay and prayed for its vacation/modification.