மேற்குவங்காளம்: பராக்கா அணை அருகே வெடிகுண்டு

மேற்குவங்காளம்: பராக்கா அணை அருகே வெடிகுண்டு கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Time bomb found near Farakka
4 Aug 2008, 0452 hrs IST, Subhro Maitra,TNN

MALDA: A powerful explosive device with a timer was found in Baishnabnagar, barely 400 metres from the Farakka barrage on Sunday, sending police into a tizzy. A bomb disposal squad will arrive from Siliguri to defuse the bomb.

"It appears to be a strong explosive device. We have not been able to ascertain its nature but it does have a timer," Malda SP Satyajit Bandyopadhyay said.

Intelligence agencies have already alerted the Malda administration about the presence of Bangladeshi terrorists in Pardeonapur, Baishnabnagar and adjacent areas. Moulana Mainul Haque of Bangladesh, who allegedly had a hand in the recent explosions in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, had spent a few days in Pardeonapur about a month ago.

The spot where the bomb was found is very close to the Bangladesh border. The incident has raised security concerns, especially since Malda and Murshidabad links have been exposed in the serial bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

Baishnabnagar has seen a number of explosions and deaths of late. On May 19, two persons were killed when a bomb exploded in the same area. In July, a person was killed in an explosion at a Congress leader's house. The bomb found on Sunday is far more powerful than any that police have seen here. Intelligence sources are not ruling out the possibility of a foreign hand being involved