Forensic experts collected samples from the tragedy site in Kaliganj. The items include some ‘white substance,’ ‘hair clips with blood stains’, and other articles from the spot
KOLKATA – The aggrieved family members of the 13-year-old girl, Tamanna Khatun, who was killed in a bomb blast at Kaliganj in West Bengal’s Nadia district earlier this week (23 June), have refused to accept compensation extended by the Trinamool Congress legislator from Debra, Dr Humayun Kabir, and demanded a proper investigation into the case.
According to family members and residents, Class IV student Tamanna was killed after being hit by splinters of a bomb that was hurled during a procession of the ruling Trinamool Congress to celebrate the victory of its party candidate Alifa Ahmed in the Kaliganj by-poll.
On Monday, Alifa Ahmed retained the Kaliganj seat in Nadia district after defeating the BJP’s Ashish Ghosh by a margin of 50,049 votes. She secured 1,02,759 votes while Ghosh and Congress’ Kabil Uddin Shaikh got 52,710 and 28,348 votes respectively.
Sabina Yasmin, the mother of the victim, refused to accept the money offered by the MLA and pressed for the arrest of the culprits.
The parents of the minor girl said they would go to extremes, including approaching the Calcutta High Court for an investigation by a central agency.
“We have our farmland. We do not need any money. All we want is that my daughter gets justice and her killers are punished appropriately,” the victim’s mother said.
She also made it clear that the refusal of any compensation was not just in relation to anything offered by the state government but also from any leader of Trinamool Congress, either in the individual capacity of that leader or on behalf of the party.
Forensic experts collected samples from the tragedy site in Kaliganj. The items include some “white substance,” “hair clips with blood stains”, and other articles from the spot, police sources said.
“These articles will be sent for chemical examinations. We will not be able to say anything before the results are out,” media reports quoted a member of the forensic team.
Dr Humayun Kabir, a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, visited the residence of the victim and offered her mother an amount on behalf of a voluntary organisation that he claimed to be associated with.
The legislator told reporters that he was in Kaliganj not as a politician but as an ordinary citizen. “I think everyone should raise their voice against such bomb attacks,” he said.
So far, five persons have been arrested in connection with the killing of the minor girl.
The victim’s mother also accused the investigating officials of the district police of ignoring the political angle behind the event of hurling bombs from the victory procession, which was exclusively targeted at her residence.
She said that her residence was specially targeted since her entire family is ideologically inclined to and was actively associated with the CPI-M for a long time.
Secondly, she questioned how just five persons have been arrested so far, despite around 40 to 50 bombs being hurled targeting her residence within a short period, which was not possible by just four miscreants.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken a suo motu cognisance of the case and sought answers to some queries in the matter from the Krishnanagar District Superintendent of Police, Amarnath K, under whose jurisdiction the Kaliganj area falls. – With inputs from IANS
