Blast in TMC office kills one, sparks war of words

Kolkata:

A Trinamool Congress worker was killed in an explosion in a party office in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district on Thursday that sparked a war of words between the state’s ruling party and Opposition leaders over the cause of the blast.

The blast, which destroyed a part of the TMC office, took place at around 8.45 am at Makrampur in Narayangarh area on NH-60, about 125km west of Kolkata, police said. It happened minutes before a party meeting was scheduled to begin, said Ajit Maity, president of the district Trinamool Congress.

The killed TMC worker was identified as Sudipto Ghosh, 40. Six others who were injured, two critically, have been admitted to Midnapore Medical College hospital.

The TMC said a gas cylinder had exploded at the facility but both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress were quick to allege that crude bombs had caused the explosion.

“To create an atmosphere of fear, Trinamool workers stocked bombs inside their office. Since the process of forming panchayats started this week, they needed the bombs to strike fear in the villages,” claimed Samit Dash, BJP district president. He did not give any evidence to support his claim, which was rubbished by TMC’S district president Maity. “The gas cylinder kept in the party office exploded as our workers were gathering for a meeting. The Opposition is spreading lies to malign us,” he said.

Anil Sikaria, a district Congress leader raised the crude bombs theory as well. He alleged, “The Trinamool had stocked bombs in the party office which exploded, resulting in the death and injuries.”