Without taking names of any particular party or individual, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that some people were “pressurising” Hossain to join their party.
KOLKATA — West Bengal Labour Minister Jakir Hossain was seriously injured after unidentified assailants hurled bombs at him at a railway station in Murshidabad district on Wednesday night, police said.
Police said that at least two other persons accompanying Hossain, the Minister of State for Labour, were also injured in the bombing.
According to police, the bomb was thrown on Hossain when he was waiting at a platform of the Nimtita railway station to board a Kolkata-bound train at around 10 p.m.
The minister and the two other injured persons were first taken to Jangipur sub-divisional Hospital, then to a hospital in Kolkata. Hossain reportedly sustained injuries on the left side of his body, mainly on his limbs.
This is the first attack on a Bengal minister in recent years.
CID takes over probe
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has pointed out towards a “conspiracy” behind the bomb attack that left her Labour Minister Jakir Hossain seriously injured.
Without taking names of any particular party or individual, Banerjee levelled allegation that some people were “pressurising” Hossain to join their party. The West Bengal government on Thursday also handed over the investigation into the attack to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Banerjee held even the Indian Railways responsible for the incident since it took place on its premises as crude bombs were hurled on Hossain by unidentified people on Wednesday night while he was walking towards Nimtita Railway station in Murshidabad to board a train for Kolkata.
“Railways are to be blamed for the blast at Murshidabad where Minister Jakir Hossain was injured. It was a planned conspiracy to kill him. Not a responsibility of State government, Railways and Centre are to be blamed,” Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister’s statement came after she along with senior Trinamool Congress leaders went to the state-run SSKM hospital here to inquire about the health of the Minister. Hossain was shifted to the SSKM Hospital on Thursday morning and admitted to the Trauma Care Unit where a medical board has been formed to look into his health condition.
Hossain suffered injuries in one hand and a leg but his condition was said to be stable, and doctors stated that he is out of danger. The Minister was waiting at platform number 2 of the station to catch the train to Kolkata at around 10 p.m. when the attack took place.
At least two other persons, who were with the Trinamool Congress MLA of Jangipur, were also injured in the incident that comes during the build-up to the Assembly elections in the state due in April-May this year. — IANS
(Inputs added)
