A powerful explosion on Tuesday morning rocked the Beliaghata area, creating panic among residents. The blast blew off the roof of Gandhimath Friends Circle Club located on the main road after alleged explosives kept on the top floor of the building detonated.
The incident took place at around 6.30 am, no casualties or injuries have been reported so far. Some of the nearby houses developed cracks due to the impact of the blast. The building where the explosion occurred is located near the ‘Gandhi Ashram’, known to be the place where Mahatama Gandhi stayed on August 13, 1947, to calm down the Hindu-Muslim rioters during Independence celebrations.
Soon after the incident was reported, a team of senior Kolkata Police officers rushed to the spot for inquiry. A team of forensic experts also reached the place of incident to examine the explosives kept on the top floor of the building.
Deputy Commissioner (Eastern suburban division), Ajay Prasad who visited the spot after the blast, said, “We are investigating the matter. The dog squad and the forensic teams are assisting us in the investigation. The nature of the blast will be known after the forensic report.”
The police picked up few people from the locality for questioning and preliminary inquiry revealed that a large quantity of hand-made explosives was stored in the room.
“A lot of real estate activities are going on in the area and we are trying to find out any link between the blasts with the people indulged in real estate activities,” a senior police officer said.
BJP national general secretary and in-charge of West Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of storing and creating explosives to trigger terror ahead of the state assembly elections. “The blast at Beliaghata once again proved how TMC is gearing up to create terror ahead of the Assembly Polls in the state. A large amount of explosives were stored here to create a sense of fear among the people,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee, state committee member Gautam Chowdhury and North Kolkata District President Shibaji Singha Roy will visit the place of incident in the evening. They have demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.