NIA Arrests Ex-Trinamool MLA Saokat Molla In Bhangar Blast Case
One person was killed, and three others were critically injured in the crude bomb explosion at Dakshin Bamunia village in South 24 Parganas district on March 19, while bombs were allegedly being made there.
· www.ndtv.comThe National Investigation Agency on Friday night arrested former Trinamool Congress MLA Saokat Molla, the prime suspect in the Bhangar blast case, from West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, hours after declaring him as 'absconding'.
One person was killed, and three others were critically injured in the crude bomb explosion at Dakshin Bamunia village in South 24 Parganas district on March 19, while bombs were allegedly being made there.
"We have arrested Saokat Molla as part of the ongoing investigation into the Bhangar bomb blast case. He will be produced before a court tomorrow, and further legal proceedings will follow," an NIA official told PTI.
With the TMC leader's arrest, the total number of people held in the case has gone up to four.
Molla, the ex-MLA from Canning Purba, was taken to the NIA office for questioning following his arrest, the official said, adding that the biker with whom the accused was riding pillion was also held.
However, members of Molla's family claimed that he was detained from the Chingrighata area of Kolkata and had surrendered before the agency sleuths.
"My father was not at home. He had gone out for personal work. He surrendered to the authorities. We (our family members and my father) were at a hotel near Chingrighata and not anywhere near Kamalgazi," Molla's daughter told reporters.
The arrest came a day after the central agency conducted extensive searches at Molla's residence and several other locations linked to him across South 24 Parganas district. NIA teams had raided premises in Moukhali, Baruipur and Sonarpur on Thursday as part of the investigation.
On Thursday, the NIA arrested the driver of the four-wheeler used to transport the bomb makers. Incidentally, Molla, who represented the Canning Purba Assembly constituency and won elections in 2016 and 2021, saw his security cover withdrawn recently by the state government.
The NIA had earlier served a summons notice on Molla through his family members and questioned his son during the investigation, officials said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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Bhangar Blast Case, Saokat Molla, National Investigating Agency