Baharampur (West Bengal): West Bengal minister Jakir Hossain was seriously injured after unidentified attackers hurled a crude bomb at him. The bomb attack came at Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad district Wednesday night, police said. At least two other persons, who were with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA of Jangipur, were also injured in the bomb attack. Jakir Hossain is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital in the district. He will be shifted Thursday to Kolkata.
Senior minister and TMC leader Malay Ghatak held ‘political rivals of the party’ responsible for the attack. However, a former leader of the party, who was expelled from the TMC earlier in the day, claimed that it is the result of the party’s internal feud.
Hossain, the Minister of State for labour, was waiting at platform No. 2 of the station to catch a train to Kolkata at around 10 pm when he was attacked, a senior police officer of West Bengal Police stated. “We have started an investigation,” he said. The minister and the two other injured persons were taken to Jangipur Sub-divisional Hospital, he informed.
An official of the hospital said that the minister suffered ‘injuries on his legs and lower abdominal part’. “We are trying to stabilise him before shifting him to a hospital in Kolkata,” the official said.
When contacted, Ghatak said Jakir is a very popular leader in Murshidabad district. “He has successfully conducted rallies where thousands of people participated. It’s the work of our political rivals. They wanted to kill Jakir,” Ghatak said. However, he did not want to name any particular party for the attack.
TMC’s Murshidabad district president Abu Taher Khan suspected the involvement of the BJP or the Congress behind the attack.
BJP national general secretary in-charge of Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya and the party’s state president Dilip Ghosh condemned the attack on Hossain.
“I strongly condemn the crude bomb attack on TMC minister Jakir Hossain at Nimtita railway station, Murshidabad. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured,” Vijayvargiya tweeted. “This shows that West Bengal is not safe even for ministers. The law and order has totally failed,” Ghosh said.