West Bengal has become home to illegal bomb-making: Governor Dhankhar on NIA arrests

PTI, Sep 19, 2020, 3:59 PM IST

Kolkata: West Bengal has become “home to illegal bomb-making” and the state administration cannot escape its accountability for the “alarming decline” in law and order, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Saturday.

The governor’s comments came after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested nine terrorists associated with a Pakistan-sponsored module of the al-Qaeda from several locations in West Bengal’s Murshidabad and Kerala’s Ernakulam early on Saturday.

“State has become home to illegal bomb making that has the potential to unsettle democracy. Police @MamataOfficial busy in carrying out political errands and taking on the opposition. Those at helm @WBPolice cannot escape their accountability for this alarming decline in law and order,” Dhankhar tweeted.

The governor alleged the state director general of police is distanced far from reality and his “ostrich stance” is “very disturbing”.

“How far distanced is DGP @WBPolice from reality is cause of worry. His ‘Ostrich Stance’ is very disturbing. Appreciate the role of policemen in general-they r working in difficult situations. Problem is with those at the helm who r unmindful of conduct and r politically guided,” Dhankhar said in another Twitter post.

“…DGP on this alarming affairs @MamataOfficial to me ‘West Bengal police firmly adheres to the path laid down by law. There is no discrimination for or against anyone in an extra-legal sense’,” he said in another tweet.

The governor, who has had regular run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee dispensation on several issues, had on earlier occasions accused the police and administration in the state of playing a partisan role and causing harassment to leaders and workers of opposition parties.