By IANS,
Kolkata : A relative of Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader and West Bengal Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar was seriously injured Thursday in a crude bomb explosion at his village house at Basanti in South 24 Parganas district of Bengal.
“The incident took place around 2.30 p.m. Thursday at Kumrokhali village in Basanti. The wife of Naskar’s nephew suffered serious burns. We are investigating the cause of the blast,” West Bengal police inspector general (law and order) Raj Kanojia told IANS.
RSP activists at Basanti alleged that Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) supporters threw the bomb at Naskar’s house.
However, CPI-M activists at Basanti have brushed off the allegation saying RSP had stocked crude bombs to use them in political clashes during the second phase of the three-phased panchayat polls held Wednesday.
“One of the bombs exploded even as the lady was throwing them in a nearby pond,” a CPI-M activist at Basanti said.
“We have sent teams from Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and forensic department to find out the actual reason behind the blast,” state home secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti told reporters at Writers’ Building – the seat of West Bengal government -here.
In a bid to repair the cracks between the CPI-M and RSP – the two constituents of the ruling Left Front – over the panchayat polls, CPI-M patriarch and ex-chief minister Jyoti Basu described the incident as “unfortunate” and called for building up the Left Front afresh.
Frequent political clashes were reported at Basanti since Wednesday. Four people – three RSP activists and one CPI-M supporter – died in the clashes.
According to police sources, about 35 political activists were arrested from the area Wednesday.