Explosives were recovered from South 24 Parganas’ Bhangar in the early hours of Sunday, triggering a political clash between the Trinamool Congress and the Indian Secular Front ahead of the second phase of polling in West Bengal.
Acting on a tip-off, police conducted a search in a garden behind a TMC worker’s house, where they recovered a bag containing nine crude bombs, police sources said.
The explosives were defused, and police officials launched an investigation to identify those responsible for storing them.
The incident led to a sharp political face-off between the ISF and the TMC. While the ISF blamed the TMC for stockpiling bombs to create unrest, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) denied the allegation and claimed that ISF workers planted the bombs at night to defame the party.
The recovery triggered tension in the locality, prompting the deployment of police and central forces in the area. However, this was not the first time that explosives were recovered from the town. On Saturday, police recovered about 100 live bombs from an abandoned house belonging to a TMC worker.
Meanwhile, sources in the Election Commission of India said senior police officials have been directed to seize such explosives within 24 hours.
The development comes two days before campaigning for the two-phase West Bengal Assembly polls ends. While 152 seats voted in the first phase on April 23, the remaining 142 constituencies will vote on April 29. The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.
With inputs from Prosenjit
