Political slugfest in Bengal is sparked by arrests in the Bengaluru café bombing case
Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Abdul Mateen Taha, the two suspects in the Bengaluru café bomb case, are from Kanthi in the state’s East Midnapore district, and their arrests have sparked a political slugfest in West Bengal.
The NIA took both of them into custody on Friday.
Amit Malviya, the central observer for the BJP in West Bengal and head of information technology, has sparked the debate by claiming that the incident shows how West Bengal is turning into a safe haven for terrorists.
“NIA has arrested Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, a Kolkata accomplice, and bomber Mussavir Hussain Shazib as the two main suspects in the Rameshwaram Cafe bombing. Both most likely come from Shivamogga, Karnataka, ISIS cells. Unfortunately, West Bengal has turned into a safe haven for terrorists under Mamata Banerjee, Malviya stated in a statement shared on his official X feed.
But shortly after his Texas post went viral, Malviya’s remarks were refuted in a formal statement released by the West Bengal Police.
“The West Bengal Police and the central intelligence services have jointly detained two suspects in the Rameshwaram Cafe explosion case from Purba Medinipur, notwithstanding Amit Malviya’s false accusations. The Central Agencies have formally recognized WBP’s proactive engagement in the case. The state police in West Bengal said in the state on Friday morning, “The state police will continue to remain ever-vigilant in keeping its people safe from nefarious activities. West Bengal has NEVER been a safe haven for terrorists.”
Similar to Malviya, Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, the state president of the BJP in West Bengal, stated that terrorists would naturally view the state as a safe haven because it is the only state in which central agency investigators are brutally attacked and beaten whenever they attempt to take any action against any anti-national activities.
Furthermore, based on counter-FIRs containing unfounded allegations, the state police are opening a probe into those central agency detectives. Naturally, these changes give rise to groups that are anti-national,” Majumdar added.
In a swift and oblique response, Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh alluded to the family of opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari, a resident of Kanthi, the location of the arrests. Ghosh did not, however, specifically mention the Adhikari family.
“Permit me to pose a query to the BJP leaders. Where are people being arrested? Kanthi is here. The chief head of the BJP and the family that controls illicit enterprises from there are well known. In order to determine the Family’s involvement in giving sanctuary to anti-national elements, I urge the state authorities to look into this subject,” Ghosh said.
Simultaneously, he expressed gratitude to the NIA for recognizing the state police’s contribution to the arrests.
