West Bengal Malda Blasts: NCPCR summons ADG as he fails to submit report

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) summoned West Bengal ADG K Jayaraman after he failed to submit a detailed report on the bomb blast that took place in the Gopalnagar village in the Malda district on April 24, in which five children were critically injured. The development comes after the Commission wrote to the State's Chief Secretary and DGP seeking a report after they received a complaint. It's important to note that NCPCR has mentioned in the request, that similar incidents in the past have been ignored by the authorities, calling them cylinder blasts.

NCPCR registrar Anu Chaudhary, in the notice, wrote, "In spite of the letter dated April 25, 2022, issued by the Commission, no reply/response has been received from your good offices in the said matter till date. The Commission has taken cognizance upon the complaint and accordingly, requested your good offices to conduct expeditious and detailed investigation into the incident and take suitable remedial measures to avert such incidents."

"Now, therefore, the Commission in pursuance of the above functions and powers u/s. 13 & 14 of the CPCR Act, 2005 requires you to physically appear before the Commission in this matter to furnish an action taken report at 1530 hours on May 20, 2022, and to explain the reasons for not furnishing the requisite information sought by the Commission," it added. 

Additionally, the NCPCR had requested to provide the information on the following matters in 24 hours. 1) Provide immediate relief to the injured children 2) Ensure specialised medical treatment to the children and 3) Provide medical reports of the injured children. Action had also been requested by NCPCR on conducting a search operation in the area; to take remedial measures to avoid the recurrence of such incidents; Providing a seizure report of the incident including the photograph; As the blast is being categorised as a cylinder blast, the authorised personnel should be booked.

West Bengal Malda Blasts

Meanwhile, five people have been arrested in connection with the crude bomb blasts that occurred in Malda. They are local residents, said Superintendent of Police Amitava Maiti. The condition of two children, who were critically injured and admitted to Malda Medical College and Hospital, are stable, he said. More crude bombs were discovered underneath a tree beside a local mosque, which were defused by the bomb disposal squad. The State Police had launched a 10-day drive on the orders of Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee in the month of March this year to recover illegal arms and ammunitions.