West Bengal detonator seizure case: NIA arrests two explosive suppliers

New Delhi [India], April 1 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two suppliers of explosives and Gelatin sticks in the West Bengal detonator seizure case, the agency said on Saturday.

The two accused have been identified as Merazuddin Ali Khan of Bokaro and Mir Md. Nuruzzaman of Birbhum. The two were held on Friday, from Rganj and Kolkata regions in West Bengal.

Notably, the agency made its first arrest in the case in January 2023 with Rintu Sk.

As per NIA, one accused, Nuruzzaman had supplied 27,000 kgs of ammonium nitrate to Rintu Sk while the other accused Merazuddin had supplied electric detonators and gelatine sticks to Rintu Sk.

Further investigations are underway to establish the sources of pilferage of the explosives and other bomb-making materials, including detonators and gelatine sticks are in progress, said the NIA.

In June 2022, a Tata Sumo car, which was found transporting around 81,000 electric detonators was intercepted by Kolkata Special Task Force. The cache of detonators was seized and Ashis Keora, the driver of Tata Sumo was arrested. Ashis led the police to a stash of illegally stored explosives, including 27,000 kgs of ammonium nitrate; 1,625 kgs of gelatine sticks and 2,325 more electric detonators.

The case was initially registered at Md Bazar Police Station in Birbhum district in West Bengal. NIA took over the case in September 2022.