The arrest of the two primary suspects linked to the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, trailed from Bengaluru to West Bengal, has ignited a political row between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
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During an election rally in Dinhata, located in Bengal’s Cooch Behar, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee swiftly retaliated against insinuations that the state had become a “haven for terrorists” under her leadership.
Banerjee, a staunch critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, emphasised that the arrested were not Bengal residents but had sought refuge in the state. She underscored the efficient arrest operation, boasting that it took a mere two hours to detain them.
“The BJP cannot tolerate peace in Bengal,” Banerjee vocally asserted, challenging the audience to evaluate the safety in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.
Also Read: NIA arrests Rameshwaram Cafe blast’s mastermind, aide from West Bengal
In a counteroffensive, senior Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh pointedly remarked on the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) acknowledgment of active cooperation from the state police in effecting the arrests.
The detainees, identified as Mussavir Hussain Shazeb and Abdul Matheen Taha, are believed to be pivotal figures in the conspiracy. Taha purportedly managed logistics, while Shazeb executed the bombing.
Their hiding place of the Rameshwaram Cafe blast accused was traced to Kanthi, a town in Purba Medinipur district, situated 180 km from Kolkata. Notably, Kanthi falls within the stronghold of BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, a former confidant of Banerjee who defected to the BJP just prior to the 2021 Bengal Assembly election.
Cashing in on the information, Ghosh urged the state authorities to scrutinise potential connections between Adhikari’s family and the perpetrators of the Rameshwaram Cafe attack. He reiterated the commitment of Bengal Police to thwart anti-national forces and expressed readiness to collaborate with other agencies.
In a veiled jab at the BJP, Ghosh insinuated the party’s alleged involvement in fomenting unrest and violence, particularly during elections, to disrupt governance in West Bengal.
The exchanges between Banerjee, Ghosh, and the BJP were prompted by Amit Malviya’s social media post implying the suspects’ affiliation with an ISIS cell in Karnataka. Bengal Police swiftly rebutted Malviya’s claim, stating that the arrests resulted from a joint operation involving state and central intelligence agencies. They emphasized the proactive role of West Bengal Police and refuted assertions that the state had ever harboured terrorists.
The Rameshwaram Cafe, which suffered severe damage in the explosion, resumed operations eight days later with enhanced security measures, including the deployment of metal detectors. Co-founder Raghavendra Rao announced plans to bolster the security team and initiate training programs for security personnel, possibly involving ex-servicemen, across all branches.
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