Murshidabad, 22 November (H.S.): With barely five months left before the West Bengal Assembly elections, Murshidabad district appears to be sitting on a powder keg. In the past three weeks, the police have recovered nearly 2,000 crude bombs from two police districts—Murshidabad and Jangipur—triggering widespread concern over law and order.

According to sources, over 1,800 bombs have been recovered from Murshidabad Police District alone, while approximately 200 bombs have been recovered from Jangipur Police District. The police are conducting continuous raids, and reports of bombs being recovered are emerging daily.

On Saturday, a bucketful of bombs was recovered from a mango orchard in Jotkashi area of Shamsherganj police station area of Jangipur Police District. The police cordoned off the area and called in a bomb disposal squad. An investigation is underway to determine who hid the bombs there and why.

Earlier this month, Murshidabad Police District launched a toll-free number for reporting bomb-related information. Following this, the number of bombs recovered has steadily increased. Jangipur Police District also became active, and extensive searches are underway in both districts.

More than 30 bombs and approximately 1 kg of explosives have been seized in Ranitala police station area over the past 20 days. On Saturday, a massive search operation was conducted in the Nayagram area, involving a sniper dog squad and a metal detector team.

The police said that they have intensified surveillance to prevent any potential unrest ahead of the assembly elections. The source of the bombs and the network behind them are being investigated by questioning local residents.

Approximately 30 people have been arrested so far. However, despite the discovery of such a large quantity of bombs, questions are being raised about the number of arrests. Locals are demanding the police to take strict action against those hoarding bombs in the district.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey