Cops arrest 41, seize bomb raw materials

Kolkata: Forty-one people were arrested and a large amount of explosives were seized on Thursday, a day after the Maheshtala violence, in which 15 cops were injured, 10 from Kolkata Police and the rest from Bengal Police.While police imposed prohibitory orders in the area, they reached out to community elders, seeking to initiate confidence-building steps.With indications of "planning" involving "outsiders", police said on Thursday they were geared up for quick interventions amid inputs of a possible repetition of Wednesday's template as the 2026 assembly polls drew near. The modus operandi, they claimed, would be to "carry out a sudden act of instigation". "The aim is to instigate a community or locality and amplify it. External sources will be used," an officer. The explosives recovered were a pointer at the "intent and planning". "Around 8.45 pm on Wednesday, police recovered large amounts of sodium powder, 10 kg aluminium powder, phosphorus dust, red sulphur and iron dust, usually used to make bombs," said SP (Diamond Harbour police district) Rahul Goswami. "Five persons were arrested. Among them, Nabin Chandra Roy said he was a worker for RSS and BJP. On Ram Navami, he was seen at the Bata More, throwing police barricades." Additional SP (zonal) Mitunkumar Dey said, "There are three parts in our probe. We will see if cops were negligent as the incident took place near a police station. We will take action if we find the role of any Muslim fanatic —irrespective of political affiliation. The third focus is on Hindu fanatics, trying to flare up the issue." Bengal Police registered three cases and arrested 29 people. Kolkata Police filed four cases and arrested 12. Multiple raids are on in the port area, Maheshtala and Budge Budge. "The situation is now peaceful. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Rabindra Nagar PS area, where members of political parties are advised not to visit. We urge all to keep calm and ignore rumours. Those trying to cause unrest will be dealt with," said ADG (law & order) Jawed Shamim. "The cases at Nadial were based on complaints of injured cops. DC (Port) Harikrishna Pai was given three stitches," said Rupesh Kumar, JCP (crime & traffic).Bengal and KP cops patrolled the area. The few shops that opened saw limited business. People were directed not to gather on roads.