West Bengal Minister Jakir Hossain and his supporters were injured after unidentified criminals threw crude bombs at them at the Nimtita train station in Murshidabad district on Wednesday night.
Sources said Hossain was scheduled to take a train to Kolkata to attend Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s workers’ meeting in Pailan on Thursday when crude bombs were thrown at them.
#Visual| Crude bombs dropped against Bengal Minister Jakir Hossain at Raghunathganj in Murshidabad. The seriously injured minister was rushed to Jangipur hospital, and is now being transferred to a hospital in Kolkata. @ZeeNews pic.twitter.com/vlJK9BuAWz
– Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) February 17, 2021
Following the attack on platform two of the train station, Hossain and his wounded followers were taken to Jangipur Subdivision Hospital for treatment.
Hossain, the Minister of State for Labor, was referred to Murshidabad Hospital and Medical College, but is being transferred to a hospital in Kolkata. Sources said he was targeted for opposing the rampant smuggling of cows in the district. His condition is said to be critical.
TMC Murshidabad District Chairman Abu Taher Khan said: “It is not clear who attacked him. I have asked the SP to carry out a thorough investigation of the incident and find out who is responsible for this. “
President of the State Congress and Berhampore Lok Sabha MP, Adhir Chowdhury, said: “The minister was targeted because he was opposed to cow smuggling and corruption in the district. He had opposed the people who participated in these activities. This could be the reason why he was attacked today. But law and order have reached a record low in the state. “
West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh said even ministers are not safe in Bengal. “This incident is proof that there is no law and order in the state. Even the ministers are not safe here, ”Ghosh said.
The incident comes hours after the TMC expelled Mosharaf Hossain, the sabhadhipati (president) of the Murshidabad Zilla Parishad (district council) on charges of anti-party activities. He is among the Murshidabad leaders known to be close to the BJP leader and former TMC minister Suvendu Adhikari.
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